


Danganronpa V3 After/Story: The Final Survivors

by Aez8Az



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Aftermath, Afterstory, Dangan Ronpa Spoilers, Developing Friendships, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Mystery, Mystery Character(s), New Dangan Ronpa V3, New Dangan Ronpa V3 Spoilers, Other, Post-Canon, Post-New Dangan Ronpa V3, Relationship(s), Survivors, danganronpa - Freeform, danganronpa v3
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:42:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 37,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23326447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aez8Az/pseuds/Aez8Az
Summary: Following the events of the 53rd Killing Game, Shuichi, Maki and Himiko make their way to the outside world. Only to find out the defying truth that was awaiting them. The epilogue of the Final 3 Survivors begins now...----This story will be split into 5 Chapters.
Relationships: Danganronpa V3 Survivors, Harukawa Maki & Saihara Shuichi, Harukawa Maki & Saihara Shuichi & Yumeno Himiko, Harukawa Maki & Yumeno Himiko, Harukawa Maki/Saihara Shuichi, Harukawa Maki/Saihara Shuichi/Yumeno Himiko, Harukawa Maki/Yumeno Himiko, Saihara Shuichi & Yumeno Himiko, Saihara Shuichi/Yumeno Himiko
Comments: 15
Kudos: 94





	1. Right After...

The world was stunned by the 53rd Killing Game titled Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony. The statement made by the remaining students shook the world. Some were content with the ending, some were infuriated, tears were shed and some just couldn't come to terms to what just happened, it was an ending that went beyond controversy. Now the camera's are off and the conditions of the survivors are unknown. The new world that they had just created is now wondering, what happened to them?

_______

***huff* *puff***

Two people were relentlessly hitting the edge of the school with pieces of rebar they found in the rubble. Their efforts were pretty futile.

"Nyeh, why did K1-B0 blow himself up and left the hole to the outside world somewhere that we can't even reach!" The small red haired high school girl with a witch hat complains to the literal hole in the sky.

"We shouldn't really be complaining to K1-B0. He did save us after all." The navy blue haired boy in a black uniform says with an exhausted smile.

After a few minutes of hitting the edge of the school, attempting to break it but so far, they've only cracked it.

"We're getting nowhere at this point." The detective says as his legs give out and he collapses to the ground.

The little mage then quickly follows suit, saying her signature 'nyeh.'

"If Kaito was here, he would be disappointed in me for wasting our training time." The detective thinks in his head while letting out a small chuckle.

Another girl then walks up behind them both.

"Shuichi, Himiko, are you two okay?" The red eyed girl with twintails and a scary demeanour says as she offers them both water bottles.

"Oh, Maki, thanks." Shuichi says as he takes the bottle from Maki's hand.

"Mrghnyeh, I'm too tired to take it. Can you just pour it in my mouth?" Himiko says with a tired face, opening her mouth, ready to receive water.

"Do it yourself." Maki says as she places the bottle near Himiko.

Shuichi then notices that Maki was carrying a duffle bag but what was in it?

"Hey Maki, what are you carrying?" He says, pointing towards the bag.

"Oh, this? They're grenades." She says nonchalantly.

Shuichi and Himiko then jumps to their feet in shock.

"G-g-grenades?! What are you planning to do with those?!" Himiko shouts as she shivers in fear.

"Well, since you guys have so much trouble breaking the set, I thought these grenades that I got from my research lab would help." She explains calmly as she sets down the bag and reveals the many grenades that she has stuffed inside there.

Shuichi looked inside the bag and counted about 40-ish hand grenades inside. 

"So, you're going to use all these grenades to blow the set away?" Shuichi deduced.

"That's the plan." Maki says with a straight face.

"Oh... of course! I knew that, great idea Maki Roll!" Himiko says in an unsteady voice.

"Hey Himiko, I'm not sure if calling her that is good ide-." Shuichi thought in his head but was surprised when the opposite happened.

"It's not that great of an idea. I'm not even sure if it will work." She says in response while blushing a little in embarrassment.

"Oh, looks like she doesn't mind after all." Shuichi thought.

"I'll be the one to pull the pin so I need you guys to stand back." Maki says as she takes out two grenades from the bag.

"Are you sure, I mean what if you get hurt?" Shuichi says out of concern for his friend.

Maki then gives a glare to Shuichi telling him that it's going to be okay. Shuichi and Himiko then reluctantly walks away from Maki, trying to get out of the blast zone. They then decide to hide behind some debris not too far but not close to Maki.

"Nyeh, I could just destroy the screen with my magic but I've used up all my MP to hitting the screen just now." Himiko says to Shuichi.

"What does hitting something physically have to do with magic?" Shuichi thought while giving an awkward grin.

Maki then pulls out the pins of the two grenades and throws them inside the bag, running away to where Shuichi and Himiko are right after with such agility.

"Woah Maki, that was fa-?!"

**_*Boom!!*_ **

The huge and devastating explosion rung the ears of the three survivors. Leaving them in a daze.

"Two explosions in one day. This day has been crazy." Shuichi says as he looks at the ashy smoke.

"Did it work? Is the set finally broken?" Himiko asked as the smoke clears from the area.

The smoke clears and it reveals that...

"No way." Shuichi gasps.

It's still not broken.

"How did it not work? That explosion was huge!" Himiko says as she looks at the result in disbelief.

The set was definitely not unscathed, there were a few cracks here and there, but it was still not broken. The three looked at set as the image that it projected glitches out in a frenzy.

"The material that they made this from must be really tough if my grenades couldn't penetrate them." Maki says as she bites her thumb to think.

"What do we do now? Do we have anything else that we can use to break this?" Himiko asks for suggestions.

Shuichi then ponders for a while, trying to find a solution to this problem and is reminded of his friends.

"What do we do now, even Maki's grenades couldn't break it. Heh, I bet if Miu was here, she could just make something to just easily penetrate that thing and make a lewd comment about penetration or maybe Gonta could've just smashed it open with his brute strength. Well, K1-B0 was the one that actually-." He thinks just before having a revelation.

"K1-B0... that's it!" Shuichi shouts out as he comes up with the answer.

"What are you talking about, Shuichi?" Maki asked in a confused face.

"I think I know how to finally break that thing." He says with a grin.

"Then what is it? Say it or I'll cast you with my 'A Gum Will Always Be Stuck On The Sole Of Your Shoe' curse!" The young mage threatens Shuichi with a ridiculous sounding spell.

"If K1-Bo could break the set with the equipment he had, then all we need is his equipment, right?" The detective deduced.

"Okay, but where are we going to get his equipment?" Maki asked.

"The same place K1-Bo got his equipment. His lab."

________

Three figures watch the screen attentively as the three survivors try to find a way out of their confinement.

"They sort of remind me of us when we were their age." One of them said.

"In what way?" The other one scoffed.

"Their trying their best to push past the despair of losing their friends and move into a new hope."

"Oh really? Well, I guess you've got a point."

"Well, the three of them did something that all of us couldn't do." The last figure spoke up.

"With their truth and lies, they were able to break both hope and despair, turning fiction into reality and finally ending the killing game." The figure says with a smile.

"Hey, we better go. We've stayed for long enough. They'll throw a fit if we stay any longer."

"Yeah, you're right. It's time to go."

The two figures then walk away from the screen but one stays. Still focusing on the survivors.

"They'll be fine. They can handle themselves." The figure says to the other figure.

"Yeah, I know. I'm just... worried."

"You're always like that."

"Haha, I guess I am. But let's help them out a little." The person suggests.

"What are you suggesting?"

"Well..."

_________

Shuichi, Maki and Himiko make their way to the courtyard where K1-B0's lab used to be. They search through the rubble, trying to find something.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Himiko asks.

"Anything that we can use to blow up the set." Shuchi responds.

"Hmm, this is.." Maki says as she picks something from the ground.

"What is it, Maki?" Shuichi says as he goes over to Maki's side.

.....

"I don't believe it, how did this survive the destruction?" Shuichi says as he smiles as to what Maki was holding.

It was a crumpled picture of Shuichi and all of of his friends except K1-Bo, eating at the cafeteria. They were all having lunch together in harmony, having fun without a care in the world.

"K1-B0 must've used his camera function and printed this out from his memory." Maki says as she looks at the picture with mixed feelings.

"Yeah and he kept it here." Shuichi says as he remembers the bittersweet memories of him and his friends.

A tear is then shed.

"Kaede wouldn't want you to cry, Shuichi. I have to stay strong for me and her." He thinks to himself as he wipes his tears away.

Another tear is then shed, but this time, not from Shuichi. Tears drop onto the picture that the fragile girl was holding, running down her cheeks like a gentle stream.

"Maki..." Shuichi says as he puts his hand on Maki's shoulder.

The tears shed only needed a few seconds before the girl recomposed herself and returned to her normal look.

"I promised that idiot that I would be strong so, for his sake and mine, I'll try my best." She thinks in her head as she smiles.

"You keep this, Shuichi." Maki says as she hands the picture to him.

"Eh, are you sure?"

"I'm sure. Just take it."

Shuichi then looks at the picture one more time before putting it inside his pocket.

"Hey, I think I found something!" Himiko shouts out from the distance.

Shuichi and Maki then make their way towards Himiko, wondering what she had found.

"What did you find?" Shuichi asks.

Himiko then reveals an odd hemisphere like contraption. It has a black body with a screen on the flat side of the invention. On the back of the hemisphere, it says:

**Warning: Dangerous Explosive Device. Be Cautious When Handling.**

"Th-this is a bomb?!?" Shuichi says as the bomb almost slips from his hand.

"Nyeh, be careful. I don't wanna get blown up to tiny bits!" Himiko advices Shuichi.

"Let's stop playing around. We have the device, so let's use it to get out of here." Maki says as she walks away.

"M-Maki, wait! Don't leave me with this bomb!" Shuichi says as he carefully walks towards Maki.

"D-don't leave me alone with Shuichi! I don't want to get blown up!" Himiko says, distancing herself away from Shuichi.

_______

A few moments after the whole kerfuffle made by the nervous duo. Shuichi attempts to switch on the bomb to blow up the set.

"How do I turn on this thing?" Shuichi wonders.

He then feels around the ball and notices a button on the bottom side. He presses it, then suddenly three leg-like prosthetics pop out from each side of the bomb. The screen then lights up blue and shows them what they had to do.

**_Place device on the surface desired._ **

"Woah, didn't expect this." Shuichi says as he looks at the device in awe.

"That's so cool!" Himiko squeals in glee.

Shuichi then places the bomb on the cracked screen of the set. The legs of the device stick themselves on the screen, making the bomb stay in place. Then, the next step was written.

**_Explosion Level?_ **  
**_ 1_** _**_-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10_ ** _

"Explosion level? Does that mean the power of the explosion?" Shuichi questions.

"It's currently at level 1. What level should we make it?" Maki asks for an opinion.

"Let's do level 10! Go for max power!" Himiko shouts out.

"Now hold on a sec, we don't know the destructive capabilities that this bomb has. We might just be blowing ourselves up in the process." Shuichi says to defuse the situation.

"Aww but..."

"Shuichi's right. We should be more careful." Maki says, crushing Himiko's expectations.

"Alright so, I think that we should place it in a reasonable level. Not too high that we'll get blown up but not too low so it won't break through the screen." Shuichi points out.

"Why not... 6?" Maki suggests.

"That seems reasonable." Shuichi says as he chooses 6 to be his explosion level. He confirms it on the screen and is taken to his next instruction.

**_Time until detonation?_ **  
**_0:00_ **

"It looks like we have to set a timer." Shuichi says.

"A few minutes should be enough to get out of the blast radius." Maki suggests.

"Then, I'll put in 3 minutes. That should be enough time. You guys should get to a safe spot, I'll run to you guys when I'm done." Shuichi says to them as he types in the numbers.

**_Time until detonation_ **  
**_3:00_ **

"Are you sure? Maybe I should be the one to-." Maki was about to say before she got cut off.

"Don't worry about me, Maki. I'll be fine. Now get far away from here. We still don't know how powerful this blast will be." He says to them.

"Okay, make sure not to die, I'll kill you if that happens." Maki says with concern before she rums off.

Himiko then looks at Shuichi, eyes full of worry.

"I'll be fine, Himiko. Just go." He says with a smile.

"Nyeh, you better not get blown up. I won't have enough mana to heal you." Himiko says as she turns to run.

Shuichi waits a few moments and turns around to see that Maki and Himiko are on the other side of the set. He then takes a deep breath and starts the timer.

**_2:59_ **

He runs with all his might, not looking back. Trying his best to make it to his remaining friends before the timer gets to zero.

**_2:23_ **

His legs get weaker but he still refuses to give up.

**_1:58_ **

Shuichi's lungs seemed like they were about to burst from the exhaustion. But he still carried on to make it to them.

**_1:24_ **

He's nearly there, he pants like a sick dog and his legs were about to give out but his tenacity would not run out.

 **_1:02_ ** ****

_*Huff* *puff*_

"Took you long enough." Maki says to the exhausted Shuichi.

"Hey... I made it.. didn't I?" Shuichi attempts to speak while gasping for air.

"You're more out of shape than I thought, Shuichi." Himiko says with a grin.

"I was tired... from all the smashing that we did... to the screen just now. Also, look who's talking."

**_0:30_**

The three wait attentively for the incoming explosion. Tensing their bodies for what to come. But then, a question popped into Shuichi's head. A question he should've asked before activating the bomb.

"Hey Himiko, where exactly did you find that bomb?" He asks her as he anxiously waits for an answer.

"Oh right.."

**_0:15_**

"It was next to a broken locked box that had a note that said _'Positively do NOT activate this device under any circumstance.'_ Isn't that weird?"

"Wait, what?!?" Shuichi and Maki shout out to the fear of what's to come because of Himiko's mishap.

**_0:05_**

"Get down!!"

**_0:00_**

***Booooommm!!!!*  
  
**

**________**

An explosion of great proportions ignited from the bomb. It was blue in colour and it shook the very foundation of the school. Tiny rocks went flinging all around the place and the dust from the debris blew like a strong gust of wind. The three friends, despite being on the opposite side of the explosion, couldn't stay on their feet and gets blown away by the shockwave of the blast. It is then followed by deafening silence.

......

A small movement was made in the rubble. Two figures can be seen, struggling to get up.

"Urgh.."

"Mrghnyeh..."

Himiko was laying on top of Shuichi, much to Shuichi's dismay.

"Can you please get off me?" Shuichi says as he struggles to get up.

Himiko then slowly gets off of Shuichi and gets out from the rubble. Shuichi follows suit.

"Maki! Are you okay?!" They both shout out.

"I'm here, I'm fine." Maki says as she emerges from the rubble.

The three look at the huge hole made by the explosion. They finally broke it.

"Woah, three explosions in one day. I never would've expected this." Himiko says as she is blinded by the shining light from the hole they made.

"Next time when you find something, can you please tell us where you found it?" Maki tells Himiko.

"If that was just level 6, then how strong was 10?" Shuichi thinks at the possibility that they could've been obliterated by the bomb.

The three of them walk towards their shining exit with uncertain feelings.

"So, who should go first?" Maki says to them.

"I don't think it really matters." Shuichi states.

"T-then I'll go first." Himiko speaks up.

"Eh, are you sure?" Shuichi questions.

"W-well you two have already done a lot so, I figured that I should do something too." She answers.

Shuichi and Maki then smiles at Himiko's newfound enthusiasm. She has really changed.

"Alright, but run back here when you find anything dangerous okay?" Shuichi tells her.

"R-right!" Himiko says as she readies herself to step outside.

"Don't do anything idiotic." Maki tells her.

"Geez, just stop worrying! I-I'm going now." She says as she is about to take her very first step.

Himiko's heart was pounding a 1000 beats per second. She couldn't calm herself. What was waiting for them outside? What would've happened after her first step? Will the outside world accept them? She thinks all of that before her foot is placed on the ground. Her mind was racing. Shuichi and Maki were also anxious to what was going to happen. This moment felt like an eternity for them. But like all moments, they all end. And this moment ended when Himiko set her right foot on the ground.

***Click, Shut...***

The lights that were illuminating from the outside suddenly turn off and the outside became shrouded in darkness.

"What, just happened?" Himiko says, dazed by the situation.

"The lights.. just turned off." Maki says in a confused tone.

The three of them try to assess the new situation at hand. Then, Shuichi came to a decision.

"I don't know what's happening right now, but I don't think we should do anything reckless. So we should clean ourselves up, get some flashlights and stock up on supplies before we head off.” He says with a calm head.

"Yeah, that seems like right thing to do." Maki agrees as she begins to walk back to school with Shuichi.

"Mrghnyeh... but this was supposed to be my big moment!" Himiko complains as she reluctantly follows them both back.

________

Maki went ahead to her room to get changed and Shuichi was also about to, before he got stopped by Himiko.

"Hey Shuichi?"

"Hmm?"

"What did you and Maki find in K1-B0's lab, back then?" She asks.

"Why do you ask?" He says as he is about to take what he and Maki found out of his pocket.

"Well, when you guys walked over to me, I saw that you're eyes were watery so, hmm? What's that?" She says as she points to what Shuichi's holding.

"...What we found." He says as he hands it to her with a smile.

She then takes what was in Shuichi's hand and looks at it.

"Th-this is..." She says as she finally understands Shuichi's and Maki's watery eyes from back then. As her eyes also start to water.

"T-Tenko, Angie..." She says in a soft and shaky voice as her tears start to fall.

Her tears go down her cheeks like raindrops from a small raincloud. Shuichi puts his hand atop of of her head, patting her to calm her down. She then stops herself from crying any longer.

"Tenko, wouldn't want me to cry. I have to stay strong and keep my head held high. For her and for myself." She thinks in her head as her eyes dry.

Himiko then hands the picture back to Shuichi.

"Thank you, I feel better now." She says as she smiles at Shuichi and leaves to go to her room.

"You're welcome." He says as he takes the picture with a smile.

Shuichi then goes inside his room and stares at the picture one more time.

"Even if this is all fictional, the memories that I have of them are real. And that's what matters the most." Shuichi thinks in his head as he shows an innocent smile.

_______

Shuichi is now drying his hair after taking a nice and refreshing shower to wash off all the filth that he's accumulated from the debris.

"I can't believe that the water is still working just fine." He says as he hangs the towel around his neck and puts on his plaid patterned boxers.

_Just then..._

"Shuichi, are you done? We should get to-." Maki says as she enters Shuichi's room but stops as soon as she sees Shuichi's state.

.....

"Y-you shouldn't come barging into someone's room unannounced, Maki..." He says as he puts on an awkward smile.

"Y-you're right but you should hurry up. We have to search for supplies." She says as she looks away with hint of red on her face.

"R-right."

Maki then leaves the room. Shuichi felt relieved that that embarrassing moment was over. And as for Maki, let's just say that she felt a little flushed.

_______  
  
Shuichi puts on his school uniform and exits his room. He is then met by Maki and Himiko who had their own satchels and Maki was holding another satchel in her left hand.

"What took you so long?" Himiko asked.

"Sorry, it took longer than expected." He says while scratching his head.

"Here. Take this." Maki says as she hands over the satchel to Shuichi.

"What's this?" He says as he checks the contents of the bag.

"All the supplies you need." Maki says.

Inside his bag were a pack of crackers, a few cream breads, some onigiri, some face shaped gyozas, two bottles of water and a bottle of oolong tea.

"Woah, thanks for packing for me." He thanks them.

"No problem." They both said.

"What's in both of your satchels?" He asks.

"Pretty much the same as yours but minus the gyoza and I also have a box of maple fudge and that Cleopatra's Pearl Cocktail drink."

"I have ginger tea, a packet of pokey, candy cigarettes, a bubble gum bomb, two bottles of water, onigiris, cream breads and some of that rock hard ice cream that never melts." Himiko says.

"Now all that we're missing are some flashlights." Maki says to them.

"I think I have a few in my lab." Shuichi states.

"Then let's go!" Himiko says as she begins to walk away.

"Wait, I need to get something in my room." Shuichi suddenly says.

"What is it?" Maki asks.

"Um, let's just say that I've been saving this for a while and it would be a waste to not bring this along." Shuichi tells them.

They both stand there confused as Shuichi returns to his room to get something. A few moments later, he exits his room with a tupperware container that has a big slice of cake. But not just any cake.

"A-astro cake!" They both gasp as their mouths water.

"Yeah, I was sort of saving this for later but then the K1-B0 incident happened. It was a miracle that this wasn't squished by the destruction." Shuichi says to them.

"Nyeh, then what are we waiting for? Let's eat it now!" Himiko says as she eyes the cake with a drooling mouth.

"Hold on, we'll eat it in the canteen after we find the flashlights." Maki says to them but still eyeing the cake.

"But, but..."

"Maki's right. We should find the flashlights first." Shuichi says as he puts the cake away.

"Nyeh..."

_______

After getting the flashlights from Shuichi's lab, the three of them sit in the canteen, ready to devour the cake in front of them.

"I just had a thought." Shuichi says before digging in.

"What is it, Shuichi?" Maki asks.

Himiko on the other hand was holding back the urge to stuff the entire cake inside her mouth.

"If this really is the fictional world, then does that mean, the food here is fictional as well?" Shuichi speaks aloud.

"What are you talking about? Of course the food is real. It's right in front of us." Himiko counterpoints.

"Well, yeah. In here the food is real but what if for example, in the outside world, this cake doesn't exist at all." Shuichi says to them, shocking their brains.

"W-what are you saying..." Himiko says as her brain tries to process the information that's been given to her.

"He's saying that the food here is only made for the sole purpose of being eaten in this fictional world and since this fictional world is destroyed, this slice of astro cake might be the last slice in existence." Maki says as she understands the meaning behind Shuichi's words.

"N-no way. You're kidding me, a world without astro cake, what's the point anymore..." Himiko says as she is about to have an existential crisis.

The three of them stare at what could be, the last slice of astro cake that they could ever eat.

"Th-that means we have to savour every bite!" Himiko says as she holds her fork up high.

"Yeah, I guess so." Shuichi agrees with a chuckle.

"Let's dig in." Maki says as she reaches out to take a piece of a cake with her fork.

The three of them enjoy what might be their final piece of astro cake. But in that moment, they forgot about all the troubles that was going through their heads. They savoured every bite of it. One bite after another, erupting laughter to see who would get the bigger piece of the cake and the final struggle to see who would get the final bite. All their worries wash away as they finish the cake they all enjoyed eating. It was a truly wholesome moment.

______

The three of them stand in front of their freedom that they've been working so hard for, flashlights in the ready, satchels saddled on their chests, they are well prepared. But despite that, they still had worry in their hearts.

"I'm going to be honest with you guys, I'm kind of scared right now." Himiko says as she holds the sling of her satchel tightly in her hands.

"Yeah, I'd be lying to say that I'm not the least bit worried right now." Shuichi says as he looks into the darkness.

"But after all this, we can't back down now." Maki says with a little worry in her heart as she is about to venture into the world.

The three of them look at each other once more, realising that they will always have each other even in the darkest moments. The each of them smiled as the worries in their hearts disappeared.

"This is it." Maki says with a smile as she no longer has any worry in her heart.

"No time to worry now." Himiko says as she pumps herself up for the adventure she's about to have.

"It's time to go, to the outside world." Shuichi says with absolute confidence in himself and the two friends in both his sides.

The three of them turn on their flashlights, signalling that they are finally ready. Himiko goes first, making good on what she was about to do earlier. Maki was next, following Himiko's footsteps. As for Shuichi, he looked back at his school one last time, saying goodbye to this fictional world for good.

"Kaito, Rantaro, Gonta, Kirumi, Miu, Korekiyo, Kokichi, Tenko, Angie, Ryoma, K1-B0, Kaede, we're leaving now." He says as he smiles one last time to this fictional world that allowed him to meet his wonderful friends.

"Shuichi, what are you doing? Are you scared or something?!" Himiko calls out.

"You better hurry up, or we'll leave you behind." Maki jokingly threatens.

"Ah, wait up!" Shuchi says as he rushes to his friends, hoping to catch up with them.

And with that, the three of them left this fictional world behind. Ready to face any challenges that they may encounter, together.

_To be continued in the second chapter._

________

"I can't believe you just did that." The same figure from before says to his friend with a slight irritation in his voice.

"He was just trying to help them." The figure who is driving says as she defends her friend.

"*sigh*, are they even going to get the message?" The figure says to his so called friend.

"They'll get it, I'm positive that they will." The final figure says to his friend.

"But are you sure that they're going to be fine? Coping with this world?" The figure who's driving says to him.

"I'm sure it will work out just fine. They are the ones that ended the killing game after all." The figure says with a smile.

"How are you so sure?" The skeptical figure says to his friend in the backseat.

"I have hope."

......

**_Meanwhile, on a distant island somewhere..._**

A man hears about the news of the three survivors who somehow managed to end the killing game.

"Shuichi Saihara, Maki Harukawa and Himiko Yumeno. So these are the three that finally ended the killing game, huh? I guess I should pay them a visit. I really hope that they aren't... boring."


	2. Truth/Reality

The truth is often disappointing. Is that really the truth? Not just a lie made up by people so that the truth would look bad and lies would look good? And reality hurts right? That's definitely the truth. But then, why do people put their expectations so ridiculously high, even though they live in reality? And why do people lie to those people by saying empty and hollow encouraging words to those people with unrealistic expectations? Why not just give them the truth and tell them to grow up? They say your perception is the reality you live in. If you just told them the truth, their perception on the world world would just shatter into a million pieces. Wouldn't it be nice to live in a world where everything goes your way? Obviously that's not going to happen. But here's the thing, you know how life works. You know how the world revolves. Even if you have your perception of reality broken, time and time again, you at least live in a real reality, not a fictional world. To have a perception, you need to at least have a grasp in reality. But for these three friends, they don't have a reality to hold on to.

_________

Shuichi, Maki and Himiko have began their journey to the outside world by traversing the dark space that they 'found' after blowing up the set of their school. Their flashlights illuminate some areas of the dark space but they still had no clue on where they are.

"Where are we?" Shuichi says as his voice echoes in the distance. He is walking in the back of the group, trying to find hints to pinpoint where they are.

"No idea." Maki answers with the same echo. She is walking in the front, ready to protect her friends from any danger that may come.

"Can we hurry up and get out of here? N-not that I'm scared or anything!" Himiko says as she nervously walks behind Maki. If you couldn't tell, Himiko was in the middle, protected by her two friends in the front and back.

They continue to trudge along the dark road, trying to make sense of where they are.

"At least we know that we're not outside." Shuichi said to them.

"Nyeh? How do you know that?" Himiko asked.

"Because there are echoes. You can't have an echo if there's nothing to bounce off of." Shuichi points out.

"You're right, I should've known sooner." Maki said, realizing Shuichi's deduction.

"I knew that!" Himiko answered in a very dishonest tone.

After what seems to be a few minutes of walking, Maki then notices something as she shines her light towards it.

"Hey Shuichi, I think I found something." Maki called out to him.

Shuichi then walks over to Maki to see what she found out. He examines it for a while and realises what it was.

"This is..." Shuichi says as he feels the surface of the object he's examining. It was coarse and it stretches further than Shuichi's entire body. After realising what it was, he points his flashlight to the upward to confirm what it was.

"It's a building." Shuichi answers.

"I figured." Maki says while biting her thumb.

"A building?! Why would a building be here?! I thought we weren't outside yet!" Himiko shouts out in confusion.

Shuichi then takes a closer look around and finds abandoned and destroyed cars, a fractured road and many collapsed building around him.

"I bet this was supposed to be the outside world." Shuichi said in an unnerving tone.

"W-what do you mean?" Himiko asks them with a fearful tone.

"He means, that whoever created this killing game, made this world for us." Maki says as she bites her thumb with more pressure than before

"But why would they do that?!" Himiko shouts out.

"To give us hope. I'm willing to bet that if we beat the killing game the way they intended to, we would've had to walk around in this place, believing that we escaped for good." Shuichi answers as he spots something in the ground and goes to pick it up.

"But how would walking in a destroyed and abandoned world give us hope?!" Himiko says, continuing to ask questions in a loud and confused voice. She then begins to cough for a while due to punishing her throat with those questions.

"Easy, you shouldn't just shout everything out. It's bad for your throat, not to mention there could still be people here." Maki tells Himiko as she hands her a water bottle.

Shuichi then finishes examining the item he found on the ground. He is then shocked and appalled by the diabolical nature that he had just examined.

"I don't think there is any people here anymore.." He tells Maki but not yet finished with his statement.

"But there were people before this." He says as he shows them the papered book titled _'A Hopeful Future'_

Maki then takes it from Shuichi's hand and starts reading it. She then shows the same reaction that Shuichi had when he was reading it.

"...What is this?" Maki asks Shuichi in a very serious tone.

".....It's a script." He answers with disgust in his voice.

"W-w-what?! A script?! What do you mean by 'script?!'" Himiko responds before she begins to cough yet again.

Himiko and Maki then looks at the contents of the script, only to be surprised by the written dialogues inside it.

______

**Scene 1 Act 3: The Arrival Of The Ultimates**

_Survivor #17: Look, it's the Ultimate Students!_

_Survivor #18: They finally escaped! We're saved!_

_Survivor #12: We have to go and welcome them! They have so much to learn..._

_The survivors then run toward the Ultimate Students and greet them with open arms._

_________

They continue reading, only to be even more horrified by the contents.

_______

**Scene 2 Act 5: Explaining The New World To The Ultimates**

_Survivor #31: We are so glad that you survived._

_Survivor #25: We tried our best to help break you free but the dome was just too strong to penetrate._

_Everyone then offers them food and beverages._

_Survivor #31: Ah, all of you must be hungry. Please go ahead and dig in. Soon, you will meet with our leader and help us rebuild this broken world._

________

Maki then closes the script while Himiko is still horrified by what she just read.

"I can't read this anymore. This is just sick." Maki says with a scary face while handing Shuichi the script back.

"I know. But before you stop, can you read page 42?" Shuichi requests of Maki.

Maki then rather reluctantly flips to page 42 of the script. She starts reading.

______

**Scene 5 Act 3: The Shocking Leader Of The Survivors**

_Survivor #23: I think it's about time that you finally meet our leader._

_The leader then steps out and all the Ultimates are shocked by his identity._

_???: I look forward to working with all of you. With all of our talents combined, we can turn this broken world into a better one._

_The leader then reaches out his hand to welcome the Ultimates._

_Makoto Naegi: Now, will you help us fill this world full of hope?_

________

Maki was shocked by the sudden appearance of a familiar name. A name that should've reminded them of _hope_. But the only feeling they felt after reading that was disgust.

"What is this? How is this possible, why and how is he here?" Maki asks, trying to make sense of the manuscript in her hands.

"Well, I have some theories but the most probable one would most probably that they wanted to trick us into believing in hope a little longer." Shuichi says.

"Nyeh? Why would they do that?" Himiko asked.

"I'm guessing, it was to extend the show and give the fans what they want." Shuichi assumes, using the situation to back up his theory.

"What do you mean?" Maki asks.

"Maybe they didn't want to end the 53rd Killing Game so ambiguously. Maybe, this was their original plan for what would happen after. Something that they put in to please the fans of this series. I mean think about it, wouldn't the fans be so glad to see Makoto Naegi back again?" Shuichi tries to make a point.

"Well, I guess you're right about that but how does that make sense? Aren't we already in the 53rd Killing Game? It must've been a very long time gap between the first and this Killing Game." Maki retorts back.

"Hmm, I'm not sure about..." Shuichi says as he tries to think of a reasonable answer to Maki's question. And a few seconds later, as expected, he did.

"What if they wanted to do a reboot?" Shuichi suggests.

"A reboot? What's that?" Himiko asks.

"It's when a franchise restarts itself and starts anew. I remember it from when my memories as a kid. I believe I loved watching old detective movies and whodunnit stories. Although, I'm pretty sure that those memories were probably fabricated by Team Danganronpa." Shuichi says with a slight smile.

"So, they wanted to restart the series. I get it now." Maki says.

"Ah, it's just a theory so don't take my word for it." Shuichi explains.

"It's alright, knowing you, you're most probably right anyway." Maki says with a sincere smile.

"Yeah, I'll trust Shuichi. Even though, I hate to admit it, Shuichi's way smarter than me. But that's only when I'm not using my Intelligence Boosting Spell! If I had it activated, I'd be the smartest one in this group! But since my mana's depleted, I can't so don't expect much from me..." Himiko bashfully says.

Shuichi then blushed a little, not knowing just how much trust they put in him.

"Well, we should go now." Shuichi says, trying to move on from the topic.

"Yeah, you're right. This was a bit of a surprise but this shouldn't distract us from our goal." Maki stated.

They then continue to trudge along the set disguised as an abandoned city after Maki's statement. One step became ten, ten steps became a hundred, it seemed like it was never going to end. Their hope was wearing thin and so were their legs. The darkness surrounding them was making them more anxious and dreadful the more time passed.

"I'm not liking this." Maki says with a tone unlike hers as she paces in front of them.

"Y-yeah, this is getting pretty scary." Himiko says nervously as she tries to keep up with Maki.

"This just never seems to end." Shuichi says as he waves his flashlight around trying to find the exit.

Himiko then starts to stagger and her legs starts to give away thus, she falls to the sandy ground.

"Hi-Himiko! Are you okay?!" Shuichi says as he rushes to Himiko's aid.

"You shouldn't push yourself, Himiko." Maki says as she takes a water bottle from her satchel and offers it to Himiko.

"I-I'm fine. I can keep going." She says in an exhausted tone, taking the bootle from Maki's hand and weakly opens the bottle cap.

"It's okay Himiko. You should pay attention more to your.."

Before Shuichi could finish his statement of concern to Himiko, he notices the sandy ground that Himiko was sitting on. He then realises the answer and slaps himself for not noticing it sooner. He was too preoccupied with the surroundings to notice the ground.

"Ah, I should've realised this sooner!" Shuichi suddenly shouts out, alarming Himiko and Maki.

"N-nyeh?! W-what is it, Shuichi?" Himiko says, shocked by Shuichi's sudden statement, almost dropping the bottle in her hand.

"The shoe prints, the ground has shoe prints! I really should've noticed this sooner. If we follow the shoe prints, they will lead is to the exit." Shuichi says as he points his flashlight to the many prints of the soles of shoes on the ground.

"But there are so many of them. How do we know which one will lead to the exit?" Maki asks.

"We don't need to find the right one. There may be many kinds of shoe prints going everywhere but they all should be heading the same direction." He explains, examining the different soles of shoes and the direction they're heading.

The soles of shoes may be messy and all over the place but they were indeed heading in the same direction as Shuichi said.

"The staff must've left in a hurry after K1-B0's self-destruction." Shuichi thought in his head.

Maki then shows a determined look on her face as if she was about to do something bold.

"I'll go first." Maki says in a stern voice.

"W-what? Wait, we should go together." Shuichi says, bewildered by Maki's statement.

"Himiko's in no condition to walk so you should stay here with her. I'll go on ahead and make sure it's safe. I'll call out to you guys when I've made sure there's nothing dangerous." Maki says, not budging from her statement from before.

"B-but.."

"If it turns out to be a trap then it's better one of us than all of us. I've already made up my mind Shuichi. It's best that you don't fight me on this." Maki says as she looks ahead towards the shoe prints' direction.

"..But!... O-okay, I'll trust you." Shuichi says begrudgingly.

"Nyeh?! Really? Are we sure that this is a good idea?" Himiko questions with worry for her dear friend.

"It's going to be fine. You don't have to worry." Maki says as she looks back to show a small smile to her companions.

Maki then braces herself and starts walking in the direction of the shoe prints.

"Take care of yourself." Shuichi says to Maki before she gets too far to hear his voice.

"What's with that? You know I was the Ultimate Assassin, right? I can take care of myself just fine." Maki says to them with a small chuckle before disappearing from their sight.

.......

A minute passed and the two friends couldn't help but worry for their friend that just disappeared a while ago. Their hearts pumping from anxiety, it was as if their hearts were gonna burst out of their chests.

"Maki's going to be fine, right?" Himiko says voicing her concern.

"Of course. I'm sure she can handle whatever's coming to her." Shuichi says to calm Himiko and himself.

"I mean I did cast a safety charm on her but I don't know if it's going to work since I was running low on Mp." Himiko says with her usual banter.

"I'm sure it's going to work just fine." Shuichi says with a smile on his face and a small chuckle, playing along with Himiko's shtick.

.....

Another minute passed and their worries grew even larger.

"What's taking Maki so long? D-did something happen to her?" Shuchi thinks in his head as he grew restless with his concerns.

Their uneasiness has reached it's peak, Himiko couldn't stop shaking and Shuichi just couldn't take it anymore.

"M-Maki-!"

"I found the exit! It's safe! You can come over now!" Maki suddenly shouts out as her voice echoes in the distance. Signalling that not only the path was safe but she was too.

The worries in their hearts quickly went away like a gust of wind. They breathe a sigh of relief, thankful that their friend was okay.

"Looks like my magic charm worked... I mean, of course it would! Looks like I really am the Ultimate Mage after all!" Himiko says, feeling proud of herself.

Shuichi then lets out a small laugh to Himiko's statement.

"Can you walk?" Shuichi asks.

"Um, I-I think I can." Himiko says as she attempts to stand, her legs shaking like a rattlesnake's tail, she then falls to the ground, embarrassed by her actions.

Shuichi then looks at Himiko in amusement before crouching down and showing his back to her.

"You want me to carry you?"

"Y-yes please."

______

Carrying Himiko's body on his back was quite easy, considering her light and small body and short stature. This was very reminiscent of when Gonta carried Himiko after the 3rd trial. And unlike before where Shuichi denied to give Himiko a piggyback ride after they climbed to Kaito's lab, this time it was Shuichi who offered instead.

"You're pretty light, Himiko." Shuichi says as he walks on.

"Hehe, well I have been dieting for a while now. It looks like it's actually paying off." Himiko says with a smug grin.

"I don't think that's the actual reason though..." Shuichi thinks in his head as he gives Himiko an awkward grin.

They then see Maki's light shining in the distance, much to their pleasure. Maki, however was a little weirded out by the scene in front of her.

"What are you doing, Shuichi?" Maki says in a tone of slight dismay.

"W-well, Himiko couldn't really walk so I carried her here. Don't worry, it wasn't a big deal anyway." He says as he arrives at their destination.

Himiko then dismounts off of Shuichi's back. She staggers a bit but then composes herself and stands properly with her two feet and witch boots.

"I'm okay now." Himiko says bluntly.

"I would appreciate it if you took care of yourself better next time." Maki says to Himiko, trying to enforce discipline to the small mage.

"Well, it's okay, I'm light anyway so it's no problem, right?" Himiko says with gleeful smirk.

According to the Monopad back in the ruined school, Himiko apparently weighs 86 lbs or 39 kg, being the lightest among the cast of 16 students. But it seems that Maki is not pleased by Himiko's answer and for good reason.

"Himiko, I can't keep carrying you every time you can't stand, even as light as you are. You should listen to Maki's advice." Shuichi says, advising Himiko.

"Aww, but-."

" _Himiko."_ Maki interrupts with a terrifying glare, made more even more chilling with her crimson red eyes and their dark surroundings.

"Nyeh?! F-fine, I'll try not to be burden." Himiko accepts in a shaky voice.

"But I'm really glad that you're alright, Maki." Shuichi says with a sincere smile.

"Hmph, you shouldn't have expected anything less out of me." Maki says in a scornful tone as she turns her head away, showing a small smile on her face.

Shuichi and Himiko then notices the white door in front of them with a dimly lighted sign at the top that reads ' **EXIT** '.

"It's not locked is it?" Shuichi asks.

"No, it's not. I tried the doorknob but I haven't seen the outside yet. I thought it would be better for all of us to see it together." Maki says.

"So, this is it?" Himiko turns to all of them. Looking uneasy at the situation at hand and the situations they're about to face.

They all look at each other, worried for what's to come but in the end, they gave each gave other a heartwarming smile and nodded their, signalling that they're truly prepared, no matter what comes their way.

"It's about time isn't it?" Shuichi says as he grabs the surprisingly cold doorknob, bracing himself.

He looks at the two of his friends with confidence and turns the doorknob that will open the door to their future and to the world that they've been striving for.

"Let's go... to the outside world!"

**_*Click!*_ **

________

A slick black car pulls up in front of what seems to be a cafe. The chilly air as the sun sets in the sky, turning into dusk sometime soon. The figure from before, in the studio. As soon as he exits, he leans down to talk to his two acquaintances through the window.

"Make sure to prepare everything they need, alright?" The man says to his two friends in the car.

"Don't worry, my men are already there stocking up the place with the proper necessities. In addition, I'll be there to supervise them on their work." The man riding shotgun states as he adjusts his glasses.

"So you're not going to do any work as usual?" The woman driving the car says in a snarky tone.

"Hmph, who do you think I am? I have no time to waste my energy on such frivolous acts. I have a whole foundation to take care of." He says in a condescending manner.

"R-right... well, I'll be here waiting for them so be sure to finish up the place when I'm done." The man outside the car, wearing a winter coat and scarf says to them.

"Are you sure you don't want us to be with you?" The woman with jet black gloves says to her friend.

"No, it's okay. This is something I feel more comfortable to talk about alone with them." The man responds with a simple smile.

The three of them then bid farewell and the two in the car drive off to the place that they've already discussed. The man then takes a seat on the chair outside the cafe. A waiter who seems to be new to this establishment comes up to take his order, then being a little taken aback by his identity as many people would. He says to the waiter that he isn't ready to order, then the waiter bows in respect and goes back inside the cafe to continue his job. He then takes the menu on the table in front of him, thinking "Maybe I'll order something different than last time." He then stares up to the sky, thinking of the three people who he will hopefully soon meet.

"Ah, I hope they'll come here soon." He says to himself as snow falls from the sky, making the air around him even chillier.

He feels the air getting cooler and decides to order something hot that will hopefully heat up his body as he waits for them.

"Maybe I should've sat at a different table..." He says to himself, filled with regret as he buries his hands into his pockets.

__________

The door opens and the three survivors finally exits to the outside world. Is what they thought. But they're not there yet.

"W-what is this?!" Shuichi asks as his body is hit by a sudden gush of cold air and his eyes suddenly are blinded by shining rays of light.

"Mrghnyeh?! M-my eyes! It's so bright!" Himiko shouts out as she tries to block out the blinding lights.

"This isn't.. the sun? Is it?" Maki asks, trying to adjust her eyes to the shining rays.

"N-no, it's just the lights." He says as he peeks to see his surroundings.

"W-we're still not outside?" Himiko says in exhaustion as she grows tired of this charade.

Their eyes finally adjust and they are met by white exteriors, both the smooth white floors and the spotless walls, combined with the sudden burst of light which is why it blinded the three escapees.

"Where... is this?" Shuichi asks as he looks around the area for any clues as to where to they are.

"It looks like some kind of facility." Maki responds unsurely.

Shuichi looks down and sees the dirty shoe prints from the exit they just left from. All of them leading towards the same direction.

"Let's follow the shoe prints." Shuichi suggests as he points to the right, where the footprints are leading.

They follow Shuichi's advice and begin walking in the direction of the prints. The hallway was surprisingly long but after a minute's worth of walking, they reach a door. Not knowing where it will lead them.

"These are where the shoe prints stop." Shuichi points out.

"Can we just get this over with already? I'm tired of waiting and walking." Himiko says as she her body grows weary.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I'll be opening the door now." Shuichi says as he twists the doorknob and opens the door.

As expected, it doesn't lead outside. Instead, they are met with a room full of computers and monitors. The black floor did not leave any shoe prints and there are three different doors, most probably leading into different rooms.

"Nyeh!! When are we going to get outside already?!" Himiko shouts out in frustration.

Shuichi and Maki then chuckle at Himiko's statement and sort of cute reaction.

"Let's look around first, I want to know more about this place." Shuichi says.

"Yeah, same here." Maki says as she begins investigating.

"You guys go ahead and do that. I need to rest and recover my mana." Himiko says as she limps to and sits on one of the rotating chairs, resting her little feet.

While Himiko was spinning with the chair, Shuichi and Maki began their investigation on the room. The room was quite messy, not organized like you would think a big professional studio would be.

"They obviously left here in a hurry and they made a mess doing it too." Shuichi thinks to himself.

Most of the monitors were static but the ones that weren't, showed the images of the ruined school they used to live in. K1-B0 most probably destroyed most of the cameras during the Ultimate Execution. But one monitor in particular caught the attention of all three students. A small monitor placed on the top of the wall, showing the faces of them and their friends but the difference between the pictures of Shuichi, Maki and Himiko... was that they didn't have a large red X across their face with a word that could easily be replaced with 'dead'. Which reminded them of some very painful memories they wish to forget.

_______

**_Status Of Participants_ **

_Shuichi Saihara-_ **Active**  
_Kaito Momota-_ **Terminated**  
_Kirumi Tojo-_ **Terminated**  
_Ryoma Hoshi-_ **Terminated**  
_Maki Harukawa-_ **Active**  
_Angie Yonaga-_ **Terminated**  
_Korekiyo Shinguji-_ **Terminated**  
_Tsumugi Shirogane-_ **Terminated**  
_Rantaro Amami-_ **Terminated**  
_Gonta Gokuhara-_ **Terminated**  
_Kaede Akamatsu-_ **Terminated**  
_Himiko Yumeno-_ **Active**  
_Kokichi Oma-_ **Terminated**  
_Tenko Chabashira-_ **Terminated**  
_K1-B0-_ **Terminated**  
_Miu Iruma-_ **Terminated**

________

And with a simple look of the monitor, they are taken back to the horrible class trials that they were forced to do back when they were still playing the Killing Game.

"I'm.. gonna look somewhere else." Shuichi says to them as Maki also follows suit.

Himiko however, kept her eyes on the screen, most probably reminiscing on the past but it's hard to tell because of her undetermined face.  
As for Shuichi, he inspected one of the doors and the sign above it says 'Main Hall'.

"I'm guessing these doors will lead to the exit. But I'm not done inspecting this room yet." He thinks to himself as he stares at the two white doors.

But there was also another door, a door that would lead to a room that will solve all of Shuichi's current problems. A room so important that it made Shuichi and Himiko fight to see who would enter first. But Maki's lightning fast movements beat them both to the punch. She then locked the door, leaving Shuichi and Himiko to despair. It is a room so essential to all the people living on this planet.

***Flush!***

The room that is called the 'Toilet'.

......

After relieving themselves of their problems, there was still one more door that was most probably the most peculiar of them all. The black door with a sign beside it that says 'Nullification Room'. Shuichi tries to open it but unfortunately, it needs a keycard to be opened.

"What is this room?" Shuichi asks as Maki also notices the room.

"Nullification Room... what could that mean?" Maki wonders.

"Well, I don't think it matters where this room leads." Maki says as she hands Shuichi some kind of tablet.

"What's this?" Shuichi asks as he accepts the tablet.

"Who we used to be." Maki answers.

Shuichi's interest then piqued. He turns on the tablet and is met by the logo of _Team Danganronpa_. He is then met with a menu screen with the title called **Character Log**. He then sees 16 subjects. Each subject with different numbers, one of the numbers, feeling familiar to Shuichi. He taps on Subject #154 on the screen and is then met by his picture. Not him but who he used to be.

"Th-this was me..." Shuichi says in shock.

He realises that these were logs on him and his friends and tries to check his friends' logs but for some reason, they could not be accessed. Except for two subjects, Subject #127 and Subject #216. Himiko being #127 and Maki being #216. And for some reason, the other files are inaccessible, it almost seems like that they were erased from existence.

"For some reason, everyone else's logs can't be accessed, only ours." Maki mentions the odd detail to Shuichi.

Shuichi then taps on his profile. Hoping to find out more on who he used to be. And what he found... well...

________

**_Subject #154_ **

_Name:_ **[Redacted]**  
_Alias: Shuichi Saihara_  
_D.O.B: September 7_  
_Height: 5'7"_  
_Weight: 128 lbs_  
_Blood Type: AB_  
_Given Talent: Ultimate Detective_  
_Status: Alive  
_

_————————————_

**_Gathered Analysis_ **

_**Regular Life(Before Danganronpa):** _**[Redacted]**. **[Redacted]**. **[Redacted]**. _In short, an average student with no special capabilities._  
_**Behavior And Personality:** Before Danganronpa, the attitude of_ **[Redacted]** _was very peculiar. He was_ **[Redacted]** _and_ **[Redacted]**. _His family was_ **[Redacted]**. _He shows few problems but should not be any trouble for further development._

**_Analysis On Character During The Killing Game_ **

_ We thought it would be best if  _ ** [Redacted]  ** _ given talent would be the Ultimate Detective, due to his personality and circumstances, hopefully it was the right choice. The alias of  _ ** [Redacted]  ** _ is Shuichi Saihara. His estimated survivability rate is about  _ **_ 37%_** _._ _  
_

_————————————_

** The Beginning: ** _Shuichi Saihara is acting according to character. A meek and unconfident person who does not believe in himself. However, it seems the audience is starting to dislike him because of that. Thankfully, with the aid of Kaede Akamatsu, he is growing more confident. As long as Kaede is there with him, he seems to be more confident in himself. It seems that these two rely and trust each other very much. As long as Kaede Akamatsu is there beside him, he will break out of his shell. _

** The First Trial: ** _It seems that the execution of the Ultimate Pianist, Kaede Akamatsu shocked and enraged both the participants of the game and the audience. However, this may indeed benefit Shuichi Saihara's character, as her death may push him to become better. Hopefully, results will show very soon, if not he will remain a dull character with no likability. _

** Second And Third Trial:  ** _ It seems that his character is developing and improving. The audience seems to be growing fond of him. He is definitely more competent than before as a detective. It will definitely be interesting to see how his character develops in the future. _

** Fourth Trial:  ** _ The execution of Gonta Gokuhara and the betrayal of Kokichi Oma was definitely a shocking twist to everyone who was watching. Unsurprisingly, everyone is now hating on the individual, Kokichi Oma. It seems that Kaito Momota and Kokichi Oma share a sort of twisted rivalry. And because of the fatal disease that we've implanted in him, he is most likely to die by the next trial. And because of the bond, Shuichi Saihara and Kaito Momota share, it will be interesting to see how this will play out. _

** Fifth Trial:  ** _ An interesting turn of events, it was certainly unexpected to see Kaito Momota and Kokichi Oma working together in a murder. It almost ended the Killing Game but thankfully the Ultimate Detective, Shuichi Saihara solved the case. It is definitely surprising to see that he has survived this long but thanks to him, the Killing Game will continue. He has grown a great amount since the beginning of the game and will likely be the end of this one soon. Judging on the situation, he will most probably figure out the mysteries of the school and it will end with him and the surviving members choosing hope as always. _

** The End And Conclusion:  ** **[Insert text here]**

__________

.....

As he exits the menu and turns off the tablet, Maki looks at him, wanting to know his thoughts on what he just read.

"So?" Maki asks.

"So what?" Shuichi says as he puts the tablet inside his satchel, just in case he wants to investigate in more detail in the future.

"What do you think?" Maki questions again.

"It definitely is weird that only the three of ours are the only ones available. Not to mention, a lot of information on us were redacted." He says as he begins to think of an answer while covering his mouth in a very detective like stance.

"You know that's not what I mean, Shuichi. The things they wrote about you, you don't care at all?" Maki asks clearly, wanting his answer to her question.

"Eh, why should I? This was who I used to be. The me then and the me now are different people. After all, my current self and how I develop in the future is the all that matters right?" Shuichi says with a grin.

"...Geez, you really are an idiot. Here I was expecting you to be freaking out but instead you stand there like you're in an investigation. But I guess I'm glad you think that. Our currents selves is what we should worry about, not our past selves." Maki says as she lets out a small sigh.

"Did you show this to Himiko?" Shuichi asks.

"I tried to but she didn't want to take it. She had same reason as we did. She was quite adamant in not taking it too." Maki says as the both of them stare at Himiko, finally getting off the chair, looking energised again.

"I guess we're all idiots, huh?" Shuichi says with a chuckle.

"Yeah, I guess so." Maki says with a small smile on her face.

"Although, it definitely is weird that our character logs weren't completed. I guess it makes sense considering what happened..." He thought to himself as he covers his mouth.

"Hey guys, can we go now? I want to go outside already..." Himiko says to them like a child asking their parents if they could play outside.

"I'm just about done here. What about you, Shuichi?" Maki proclaims and asks.

"Y-yeah, me too. Let's try to find our way out now." Shuichi says as they all open the two doors that lead outside the room, trying to find the exit.

.....

They wander aimlessly for a while before stopping at two doors that were next to each other. The door on the right was dark blue, while the door on the left was dark red. They inspected the sign above the doors and saw where the room lead to. It was the changing rooms. The blue door was for the men while the red one was for women. They all look at each other, thinking of the same idea.

"We should probably change our clothes." Shuichi suggests to them.

"Agreed, we stand out a little too much in our uniforms." Maki says as she agrees to Shuichi's idea.

"Nyeh, but then I won't look like a mage anymore..." Himiko says as she reluctantly goes in the changing room with Maki while Shuichi went into his.

After a couple of minutes, Shuichi walks out of the changing room with his uniform in hand and neatly folded. Fortunately, there were clothes that matched his size, sort of. He was wearing one of those tight, long sleeved t-shirts, navy blue in colour with dark brown adjustable slacks. The sleeves of the shirt were a little long for him so he had to to fold them a little to make them shorter and thankfully, the slacks were adjustable. He then waits a few minutes for his friends who were still changing. But then...

"Nyeh!!!"

A familiar voice was then shouted out of the women's changing room. Alerting and concerning Shuichi. He almost ran inside to check in on them but realises that's most probably a bad idea.

"Maki, Himiko! Are you okay?!" He shouts out to them.

"Y-yeah, we're fine. Don't worry about it, we're coming out now." Maki responds to Shuichi's concern.

Shuichi breathes a sigh of relief but wonders what exactly was that scream about? A few seconds later, they come out of the room wearing their new clothes. Himiko looking a little flustered. Shuichi then observes what they were wearing. Maki was wearing a plain red short sleeved shirt with a black long sleeved underneath with dark grey jeans. She also wore a brown jacket with sleeves that weren't long enough to reach her wrists. And by looking at Himiko, Shuichi now understands why Himiko screamed in the changing room.

"We couldn't find any clothes her size but luckily, there was a plastic bag with recently bought clothing. I think a worker here wanted to buy something for her daughter or little sister." Maki explains.

It certainly seems that way. If Shuichi had to take a gander at the age of the girl this was supposed to be presented to... it was most probably between 11-13 years old. Which, for the 18 year old Himiko, must be pretty embarrassing. Not to mention the style of the clothes. She was wearing a light pink blouse that had a small simple and cute white bunny design on the right breast section. She was also wearing a dark green skirt that almost reached her calves.

"Mrghnyeh!! These clothes are not suited for an adult like me! I-I'm not a little kid anymore!" She says, throwing a tantrum like a small child as she stares in displeasure at her clothes.

"W-well, I think they suit you just fine Himiko." Shuichi says, trying to cheer her up but really should've thought of his words before he said them.

"W-what's that supposed to mean? Am I a kid to you?!" She says in anger and embarrassment.

"N-no, that's not it. I just thought you looked cute in those clothes is all..." Shuichi says, rephrasing his earlier statement.

"N-nyeh?! W-well, of course I would be. I am the cutest and most charming mage to ever exist after all." She says as she her cheeks turn to a light shade of pink for a while.

Maki then stares at Shuichi as if she's trying to make him say something.

"Ah, you look good in those clothes too, Maki." He says to her with a sincere smile.

"Hmph, it's not like I care anyway." She says as she plays with her hair with a grin on her face.

They then look at the uniforms in their hands, wondering what to do with them.

"We should keep them in our satchels." Shuichi speaks up.

"Are you sure? Won't these just.. bring back bad memories?" Maki says as clenches her uniform in her hands.

"Maybe but we shouldn't just throw these away. These uniforms made us who we are and shaped us to who we would be. We shouldn't look at these uniforms and remember the bad memories but to remember the good times that we had with our friends in the school." Shuichi says as he looks at his uniform with a smile, reminiscing of the memories they had.

"Y-yeah, Shuichi's right. We shouldn't throw these away. I... don't want to forget and throw away the only memory I have left of my friends." Himiko says with an emotional face and a bittersweet smile as she look at her uniform.

"I guess you're right." Maki agrees.

After placing their uniforms inside their satchels, they begin to search for the exit only to be stopped by a somewhat big picture hanging on the wall. The picture showed what seemed to be the workers of Team Danganronpa. Many anonymous faces in the picture were smiling without a care in the world. But it wasn't their faces that caught their attention, it was the blue haired glasses girl wearing a lab coat in the front row, close to the Monokuma plush, giving the biggest smile than anyone in the picture. A face of the only classmate they wish to forget.

"Tsumugi..." Shuichi says as he winces at the thought of her.

"That bastard. She really was a part of the people that made us play that twisted game after all." Maki says as she clenches her fist and teeth in rage.

They all look in the framed picture in awe. Trying to fight back the nightmares that they experienced because of her.

"W-we should go." Himiko says, looking away from the picture.

"Yeah, there's nothing else here worth looking at, anyway." Maki says in a displeased face.

Maki and Himiko walk away from the picture but Shuichi takes another second to look at the picture.

"Just watch Tsumugi. We'll change the world with our own hands." He says in his mind, determined to make it come true.

After a minute of wandering around, they found a map of the facility. Using it, they could finally find the exit out of this torturous, never ending maze. Following the directions of the map, all it took were a few moments to reach the two translucent doors that had the sign above it that said ' **Exit** '. This time, for real hopefully, is the doors to the outside world. Their freedom from the Killing Game that have made them suffer so much.

"This is it, right? No more fake outs and tricks. This is... real, right?" Himiko asks them in a fidgety way.

"Yeah, I think so. I can't really imagine this door leading anywhere else." Shuichi says to them.

"I hope you're right. I'm getting really sick of walking all over the place." Maki says while crossing her arms in a skeptical look.

"Haha, then I guess there's only one way to find out." Shuichi says with a chuckle as he reaches for the handles of the doors.

Somehow, all of them knew that these were the doors that would lead them to their freedom. They knew that it's finally time to enter the outside world and into a new society unbeknownst to them. Everyone's always scared to take that first step but they weren't anymore. Their ready to escape this fictional world and explore and experience this new world with their own five senses, making new memories on the way. It's finally time to go to the outside world.

"Alright guys, are you ready?" He says to them as a joke to add suspense, eager to open the doors.

"Nyeh, just open them already! I can't wait another second! I just want to escape this place!" Himiko says in an impatient tone, ready to enter the outside world.

"Can you stop joking around? You don't want to die right before opening the doors to the outside world don't you?" Maki says as a joke, not wanting to stay here for any longer.

"Alright, for real this time. Let's finally step outside together and go to the outside world!" He says as he finally opens the door, the three of them stepping out into the new world together. Ready to change it and live in the reality that was set for them all this time...

.......

 **Snow**. The gentle downpour of chilly dust like particles from the sky. The cool air and misty winds produced by the snow were enough to send literal chills down their spines. The orange skies, mixed with different kinds of colours, the descending sun in the distance, marking the time of the day to be dusk. It was sort of surreal, first being trapped in a place that doesn't even exist and now being greeted by the falling snow around them. They couldn't believe it, they were finally in the real world.

"Haha, we're free. We're.. finally... free!!" Shuichi shouts out in glee with his hands up in the air.

The three of them just stood there, taking in their surroundings, not believing that they've actually made it out.

"This.. is real right? Not just another trick from Team Danganronpa? We actually made it out?" Himiko says, not being able to contain her excitement.

"I don't think that they would go this far just to trick us, Himiko. There wouldn't be any point in that." Maki says as she begins to show a welcoming smile.

The freshly piled up snow on the road, gathering up by their feet was so riveting to feel. Their feelings almost overflowing after escaping to a reality unknown to theirs. It took them a while to calm down but eventually, they did.

" _Ehem_ , we should look around first, figure out exactly where we are." Shuichi says after taking it all in.

"Y-yeah, you're right." Maki says after mentally calming down.

"I-I'll use my magic to look for clues." Himiko says as she begins to look around.

Looking at where they are, it seems to be at the peak of a mountain. The atmosphere is thinner than usual and the mist and temperature certainly indicates that as well.

"We seem to be on top of a mountain." Shuichi thinks out loud.

Shuichi looks back at the facility they escaped from and it was indeed huge. Really, really big. It looked like it could go on forever. It was certainly intimidating how big of a size it was. At the entrance, there was a huge sign that had the words **_Danganronpa Production Studio_** engraved with Monokuma's signature lightning eye symbol on it.

"We finally made it out of there..." Shuichi thought to himself.

They seem to be at a parking lot. Considering all the parking spots, clearly vacant but one. A car in the distance. Shuichi kneels down and wipes away the snow from the ground to inspect the ground closer.

"What are you doing, Shuichi?" Maki asks.

"Just checking-. Ah, as I thought." Shuichi says as he finds the answer.

"What is it?"

"All the cars here that were here really did left in a hurry." Shuichi says as he points to the skid marks he found.

"...Should've known you would find something like that." Maki smiles to Shuichi's natural behaviour.

"Hehe, well since I used to be the Ultimate Detective, I might as well put it to use, right?" Shuichi says as he gives Maki an awkward smile.

"But what's the point in finding that? Didn't we already already establish that they were in a hurry to escape?" Maki questions him.

"Well I was just thinking, why were they in such a rush to get out of the studio? I mean why couldn't they just greet us normally? We're just three normal high school students right?" Shuichi answers Maki's question.

"Well, maybe it's due to the fact that K1-B0 blew up the set and we ended the Killing Game." Maki says as she bites her thumb.

"Even so, why would they all just turn tail and run away like that?" Shuichi retorts back.

"Hmm, I guess you've got a point." Maki says as she begins to nibble on her nails some more.

Just then...

"Hey guys! What about this car?!" Himiko suddenly yells out.

Shuichi and Maki put aside that question for another time and proceed to go to where Himiko was.

"It's definitely weird how a car is just here." Shuichi points out.

"Nyeh? Why's that?" Himiko asks.

"Who would just leave your vehicle in the parking lot while you're escaping?" Shuichi answers.

"Maybe they were in a hurry." Himiko theorises.

"No, that's not possible. If you're trying to escape, how could you possibly leave you're mode of transportation in the middle of nowhere?" Shuichi answers.

The vehicle in question was a smooth black sedan. The windows of the car were tinted a light grey. From the looks and size of the car, it looked like that it could fit around 5-6 people. It definitely wasn't incredibly expensive but it wasn't cheap either. It's not even broken or run down so it wouldn't make sense for it to just be left here.

"Does that mean that the owner of this car is still here?" Maki points out, suddenly looking cautious and wary.

Shuichi ponders on what Maki just said and grabbed the door handle of the car. Expecting it to be locked, he tried to open the door anyway and to his surprise, it opened.

"Eh? It's not locked?" Shuichi says to himself.

"What an irresponsible owner." Himiko says in response to what she saw.

He looked inside the car and surprising him even more was the fact that the car key was just lying on the driver's seat.

"This is really strange." He thinks to himself as he picks up the key.

"Why would this person just leave the key here?" Maki questions.

He sees that the gas was at least 3/4 full so they didn't have to worry about running out anytime soon. He also finds three coats and a pair of gloves.

"Hey look at these." Shuichi says as he shows off the coats.

"This is convenient then." Maki says as she takes one of the coats that looks her size.

"Thank goodness, I was starting to get cold and I didn't have enough Mp to warm myself up." Himiko says as she also takes one of the coats.

Shuichi, following what his two friends just did, took the remaining coat on the passenger seat.

His coat was black, it was a little long but he didn't mind it as long as it would keep him warm. Maki's was crimson red, it was also a little long, unlike Shuichi's which was more of a jacket, Maki's stretched all the way to her calves. And as for Himiko, as expected it was quite big for her. It was light grey in colour but the sleeves were way too long for her tiny arms. Shuichi had to fold her sleeves about 5 times to have her hand stick out. Luckily for them, all their coats had hoods, so they could conceal their faces with ease. Shuichi then takes the gloves out of the car, wondering who should wear it.

"You wear them Shuichi." Maki says, well, more like orders.

"But what about you?" Shuichi asks out of concern.

"Don't worry about me, my body's adapted to this because of my assassin training. Well in this case, implanted memories of training." Maki says.

"But what about Himiko?" Shuichi asks yet again, concerned for his other friend.

"Oh, don't worry about me. I have these!" Himiko suddenly says as she shows her hands being covered by light blue mittens with the same bunny logo as her shirt.

"They came with the outfit. I hate to admit it but they fit perfectly.... and they're comfy too.." Himiko ends with a mumble and a blush on her cheeks.

Shuichi, convinced by his two friends, reluctantly agrees to wear the brown gloves. They definitely helped in warming up his hands.

"What else is there?" Shuichi thinks in his head as he looks around in the car some more.

Shuichi looked around some more, only to find a peculiar looking note on the dashboard. He opens up the folded note and begins to read it.

_______

_To the survivors of The 53rd Killing Game,_

_I am eternally grateful for you ending the Killing Game once and for all. I know this note may seem a little weird to you but I do not have any ill intentions towards any of you. My wish is to express my gratitude to each one of you. I imagine that all of you have many questions about this world and I will gladly answer any of them, that is if you decide to meet with me. I will be waiting in a town near the base of the mountain, outside, in a café called_ **_Twilight Fable_** _. I hope you will consider my invitation. I will be waiting._

__________

They then stand there speechless after Shuichi finishes reading the contents of the note.

"This seems suspicious." Maki points out.

"Yeah, can we trust this guy?" Himiko agrees to Maki's statement.

"What do you think Shuichi?" Maki asks.

Shuichi ponders on the note for a while, thinking of the best course of action that they should take.

"I... don't think this person, whoever he is, would just write a letter like this and leave it here, along with a car would want to do anything bad to us. If so, they could've just waited here." Shuichi gives his opinion to the rest of them.

"So, what you're saying is..." Himiko asks.

"I think we should meet this person. I don't think there would be any harm in encountering this guy. Ah, but that's just my instinct as a used to be detective." He gives his opinion and ending it in an awkward grin.

.....

"Okay then, I'm sitting in the back. I need to rest my head." Himiko says as she opens the car door and gets in the backseat.

"Then, should I drive?" Maki asks Shuichi out of responsibility.

"W-wait, that's it? No more discussion? You guys are just going to accept my idea?" Shuichi says, taken aback by their actions.

"Nyeh, what are you talking about? You said that you wanted to meet this guy, right?" Himiko says through the unclosed door of the backseat.

"B-but what if I'm wrong and I just lead us into more danger." Shuichi blurted out, hanging his head low in response, wincing at the consequences that could come if they screw this up. All because of his suggestion.

Maki and Himiko then give each other a look, then smiled and chuckled to what their idiotic friend, Shuichi had just said.

"Shuichi, did you forget that it was your judgement that saved us back there?" Maki says with an uplifting smile.

"Eh?"

"I mean, if it weren't for you, we would've still been in Team Danganronpa's control. But as usual, you came in and saved us." Himiko says in an encouraging manner.

They both then put their hand on Shuichi's shoulder. He looks up at their faces to see them both smiling towards him.

"You shouldn't doubt yourself with a reason as flimsy as that." Maki starts.

"We all make mistakes but that's what makes you, you after all." Himiko continues on.

"Just like what you said in the studio, you shouldn't care about who you used to be. So don't be that Shuichi who couldn't stand up for himself and is afraid to look for the truth." Maki reminds.

"After all, we've all changed. We're not who we once were. We've become even better than my magic could ever make us." Himiko reminisces.

"Maki... Himiko..." Shuichi thinks in his head, grateful to have them by his side

Their emotions overflow in their thoughts but in a way, they could all understand each other.

"Don't forget, you and I were Kaito's sidekicks so we owe it to him to live our lives. But more important than that, you are..."

_Their feelings._

"You may not be the Ultimate Detective and I may not be the Ultimate Mage but the one thing you definitely are is..."

_Their heartbreaks._

"That's right, how could I forget? I'm so lucky to have them with me until now. As long as we stick together, we can do anything right? Maki, Himiko, thank you from the bottom of my heart. You guys truly are..."

**_"My friends..."_ **

_Their... hopes._

_________

"You sure you don't want me to drive?" Maki asks once again, trying to reaffirm Shuichi's earlier statement.

"It's okay, Maki. I'm sure it'll be fine." Shuichi says as he gets in the drivers seat.

"Do you even know how to drive?" Himiko says in a skeptical manner.

"Don't worry, in the past, my uncle taught me how to drive as experience for the future. Though, that memory could be fabricated..." Shuichi ends in a baffled tone.

Shuichi starts the engine of the car and drives around the parking lot to get the feel of it. The sky then turns dark, so he attempts to turn on the headlights of the car, only to turn on the windshield wipers.

"Now, I'm just worried." Maki says with a light tone of fear.

"Ah, it was just a mistake. I'll get the hang of it." Shuichi says to reassure them but they, well had doubts. On the bright side, he figured out how to turn on the headlights.

After a few minutes of driving around, Shuichi was finally ready to make his way down the mountain.

"Try not to kill us, Shuichi." Maki says as a joke.

"Nyeh, don't say that Maki, it'll come true if you do!" Himiko says in a worried tone.

"Isn't that a little harsh you two?" He says as he begins driving down the side of the mountain, leaving the facility that tormented them for good.

"You know, during investigations, I would picture myself driving down a freeway to help find the solutions to the problems." Shuichi says as a fun fact.

"Wait seriously? You're joking right?" Himiko says, not believing the words that came out of Shuichi's mouth.

"Obviously, that sounds like something a complete idiot would do." Maki says with a cheeky grin.

"Hey you guys, you're sort of hurting my feelings right now..." He says as he continues his drive. Their lone headlights, shining the abandoned mountain.

_To be continued in the third chapter..._

_________

_ What future lies for these three friends? What will happen in their encounter with the strange writer of the note? Will they be able to accept the reality that is pushed onto them? Will they be able to grasp the truth within? But maybe somehow, someway... nevermind, who knows at this point..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that I said that this will be 3 Chapters long but I honestly have a lot to unpack. I thought I could write it all by this chapter but as you can see, it got quite long, so this story will now feature 4 Chapters. I know, I'm sorry but I promise that I will end this story in these 4 chapters. So please, continue enjoying the story! (Annnd there goes this promise)


	3. Fractured Within

Danganronpa: A game that began with a murderous teddy bear and a crazy high school student who only wanted despair. It all started with 16 high students, each possessing a special talent that made them 'Ultimates.' The objective of the game was to murder one of your friends to escape. A trial is then held to see if the other students can find the **'blackened'** who killed one of their friends. If they get it wrong, the blackened escapes and they are all executed. If they get it right, only the blackened is executed and the others continue on with their lives inside the school. Needless to say, by the end, the remaining students manage to grasp onto hope and defeat the despair, only to find the outside world they've been reaching for is coated in despair... Well? Does it sound interesting? Something you'd want to watch? ....What? It sounds sick and twisted? Well, that's what makes you want to watch it, doesn't it? Despair and tragedy sells, sorry to burst your bubble. But that's what makes the audience want to cheer for the heroes to surpass despair and grab onto hope. That's why _you_ can't stop watching this twisted game called Danganronpa. **WE ALL LOVE DANGANRONPA, WE WOULD GIVE OUR LIVES TO THE CAUSE.** But all of it then came to a resounding halt when three students decided to end Danganronpa once and for all. Robbing us of our pleasure. _They took away our fun._ **They took away our hope.** ** _They deserve to die..._**  
_________

As the snow fell from the darkening skies, a car's headlights can be seen illuminating the winding road of the tall mountain that housed the three individuals in a twisted game. Now, they're finally free and about to meet a mysterious person who promises to answer all their questions about the reality they are living in. Let's see how the story unfolds...

"Zzzzzzzzz... _*snoooore*_ "

"Looks like Himiko's tuckered out." Maki says as she looks to see her little friend snoozing in the backseat.

"Well it was a long day for all of us." Shuichi says with a pleasant smile on his face as he watches the road in front of him.

They've been driving for 5 minutes and the current time was 6:51 p.m. The road was smooth and they didn't have any problems so far on their journey. It was a relatively peaceful ride. To a normal bystander, it would just look like a group of friends going home from a vacation.

"We've been driving for a while now." Maki mentions.

"It is a pretty high mountain and we were at the summit." Shuichi explains.

"Yeah, I know."

It was hard to talk about something. After what they've been through, it's a little tough to have a 'normal' conversation. A few moments of silence pass by and the clock on their dashboard above the radio turned into a time with a number that they are very well familiar with. The time now is 6: **53**.

"Ugh, that number..." Maki groans as she covers her face with her right hand.

"Were you... waiting for it?" Shuichi says as she glances in Maki's direction.

"I wasn't so much waiting, but more like I was dreading it." Maki says as she looks away from the clock.

"Things are going to get tougher for us from now on." Shuichi contemplates.

"...Yeah, I guess so."

.....

"L-let's listen to the radio!" Shuichi says as he reaches for the power button of the radio.

"Good idea, knowing what we just did, we'd be all over the news." Maki agrees.

"That... wasn't my intention." Shuichi thinks in his head as he scrolls around to find a radio station.

Seconds later, a voice came out of the radio.

_______

**_*Bzzzt!*_ **

_"...The world is not taking the end of the Killing Game also known as Danganronpa all too well. Riots are taking place in the streets over the abrupt end of the reality show. Protests, voicing their displeasures and distraught. Authorities are still looking for the three sur-."_

______

Shuichi quickly turns off the radio and the car is once again, filled with silence. Shuichi tries to think of a topic to change the subject and lighten the mood but for someone who does a lot of thinking, his mind was blank.

"...Do you think the world would've been better if we didn't end Danganronpa?" Maki suddenly brings up, looking out through the window of the car.

"H-huh?"

"I don't regret ending it, not one bit. It's just something that just popped into my head. You don't have to answer if you don't want to." Maki abruptly asks.

"N-no, it's okay. I'm just surprised is all." Shuichi says in a daze.

"I wonder about things like this too." Maki responds with a weak grin.

"Hehe, I guess so. But maybe you're right, maybe this world would've been better off if we didn't end Danganronpa... but we've chosen our path. We decided to change the world for the better. So we shouldn't focus on what hasn't happened, let's focus on what has happened and what we'll do to change this world to be a better place." Shuichi answers, unsure of himself.

"Hmph, so that's how it is, huh? Well I'll go along with what you said." Maki says, feeling a little bit spirited by his speech.

"By the way, what's the problem with that tablet we found?" Maki brings up.

"I have no idea. It's obviously supposed to have a clue about who we used to be but..."

"But most of the information on us were redacted right? Not to mention, the information on **them** are completely gone." Maki reminds.

"Yeah, that's right." He agrees, remembering the tablet in his satchel.

"What exactly is their goal here?" Maki says in an agitated tone.

"I don't know. I wish I did so I could tell you." He replies with a sullen face.

Maki then gets curious by the glove compartment in front of her and opens it to look inside.

"What are you doing?" Shuichi asks.

"Maybe there's something that can help us in the car. An answer to all of this, hopefully." Maki answers as she searches through the compartment.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much to be found in the compartment. Nothing useful anyway. A travel guide book, a few coupons to what seems to be a fancy restaurant, a phone charger, nothing out of the ordinary but the item that piqued Maki's interest the most was a CD.

"Hey Shuichi. I don't know how you're going to feel about this but..."

"What? Did you find something important?" He asked her.

"No, nothing like that. I just found this." She says as she holds it up for Shuichi to see.

He glances over to see what Maki was holding and saw a compact disc cover titled ' **Classical Melodies Heard Across The World And Back** '.

"Th-that's..." He stutters, remembering a face of a person he loved.

"So it does bother you." Maki says as she is about to put the disc back in the compartment.

"N-no, it's just... I'm fine really. You can put it in the radio." Shuichi reassures as he puts on a smile.

"Are you sure? If it's too much, I can-."

"It's fine. I could use something to take my mind off of the situation we're in." Shuichi presses on.

"Alright then. I'm putting it in." She says as she inserts the disc inside the radio.

The CD starts to play and it starts with a soothing melody, the soft tune of a piano, calming their minds and souls. Making them forget about the hardships and torment they've been through. The music resonates through their bodies, filling them with emotions but not showing on their faces as they try to hold them in.

"This is nice... what is it called?" Shuichi asks, listening to the soft tune of the melody.

"Umm, it's Gymnopédie No.1 by Erik Satie." Maki says, looking at the back of the CD cover which has the list of songs.

"....It's calming." Maki says as she stares the night sky as the stars begin to show. Brightening the sky above.

"Kaito would've loved this." Shuichi reminisces as he looks to the stars.

"Yeah, I bet that idiot would've gone on and on about how amazing space is." Maki says with a grin on her face.

"Yeah, you're right." Shuichi says with a chuckle.

"And Kaede would've liked to hear this, right?" Maki asks Shuichi.

"Kaede mentioned this to me... when we first met... she told me how soothing the melody is and how it would calm the sorrows in my heart. She was right. I bet.. she would've wanted to play this for us if she could grab hold of a piano." Shuichi says, showing a grin the same as Maki's while enjoying the soothing melody playing on the radio.

"Tenko would've liked this too..." A certain girl in the backseat suddenly speaks up.

"H-Himiko, you're awake?" Shuichi says, surprised by Himiko's voice.

"Yeah... this is a nice song." Himiko says as she listens to the soft sound of the piano, tugging her heartstrings one after another. A tear falls from her cheeks, was it from waking up or from sadness? That's her question to answer.

The three friends who've been through so much together drive off with the sound of music calming their spirits under the starry sky in a winter's night, in their heads hoping that everything will be okay.

.....

Soon after, upon reaching the base of the mountain, they see lights shimmering in the distance, they have finally reached where they're supposed to go. The answers they all seek will finally be unveiled, the truth will be set free.

"We're finally here..."

_____

In a certain apartment somewhere, a couple of people in suits were filling the place with usual necessities while being overseen by the two people who just got there.

"Let's hurry this up, I don't want to be here any longer than I'm supposed to." The man who wears spectacles say to the people working for him in a condescending manner while crossing his arms.

"Are you sure this place is secure?" The purple haired woman says as she inspects the place thoroughly.

"You don't have to worry, this safe house is kept quite secret from the eyes of the public." He assures.

"That's an odd thing to say considering this place isn't hidden at all." She says with a chuckle while pushing her hair back.

"That's what makes it a good hiding place." He retorts back.

"Hiding in plain sight, huh? Can't say I'm surprised." She says with a smug grin.

"Be quiet. It's best that you just trust me on this." He says with arrogance in his tone.

Then suddenly, a phone's ring is heard. The woman then reaches in her jacket and pulls out her phone. She checks the contents of the message she received, paying close attention to every single detail.

"What'd you get?" The man asked her.

"....."

"Hey, I'm speaking to you." The man exclaims to get her attention.

"...I heard you, would it kill you to be a little patient?" She says in a snarky tone while keeping her eyes on the phone.

"Time is precious. We shouldn't waste it. Now tell me what you're reading." He demands.

" _*Sigh*_ , When the Killing Game ended, I told my agency to do a background check on those three. They just sent me what they found." She explains as she finishes reading. Glaring at him with distraught in her eyes.

"Is that so? Well, that was fast. The Killing Game just ended a few hours ago." He says, a little baffled by what she said.

"My team is good at what they do." She proudly says.

"Hmph, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. So, what did they find?" He questions.

"Not much, it seems like Team Danganronpa buried their identities deep. It will be hard to find anything related to them now." She says, showing a hint of frustration in her face.

"Tch, talk about annoying... what're we going to do then?" He says with the same amount of frustration as her.

"We keep digging, we're bound to find something eventually." She tells him.

"That's just wishful thinking..." He whispers under his breath.

The men and women in suits are about to finish up on stocking the apartment with supplies. However, it seems that the man wearing spectacles is waiting for something to arrive.

"By the way, that detective kid, he's a lot like you isn't he?" The man says to her.

"Of course he is, considering what Team Danganronpa did with him, it's unsurprising that we share some similarities." She explains.

"I know that. I'm saying, why don't you take him under your wing? You both certainly seem like you were made for each other." He suggests with a smirk.

"That kid... Shuichi. He certainly has potential but I shouldn't be making any judgment calls right now. Not until I really know who he is." She answers firmly.

"Is that so? Then I'm not going to bother anymore." He finishes.

Suddenly, a man who seems to be one of the workers came into the apartment, carrying a small black case. He walks up to the spectacled man and opens the case to him, revealing it's contents. The spectacled man nods in confirmation.

"Put it on the bed." He orders as he points to the bedroom.

The worker then goes to the bedroom, following his orders.

"Why are you placing _that_ here?" She says, being wary.

"You saw what was inside?" He asks.

"I didn't need to. All I needed to see was the case." She cleverly points out.

"Hah, should've seen that one coming." He says with a cheeky smile.

"So what's your reason?"

"Call it... a test. I need to make sure if we can really put our faith in these three."

"You don't trust them?" She asks straight out.

"Do you?" He retorts the question back.

"Yes." She answers bluntly.

"Then you have nothing to worry about. If you trust them, then they won't screw up this test I set up." He explains.

"....."

"I'm not expecting you to trust me, just them."

"...Fine." She gives in.

One of the workers then comes up to them to notify them of something.

"We have finished." The worker says to them.

"It seems we're done here." The man says, relieved to finally be able to leave the place.

"Let's move out then, before the future residents walk in on us."

__________

A black sedan just drove into a foreign town, a place unbeknownst to the passengers in the car.

"Woah, this town is so bright!" Himiko exclaims, her head against the window. Dazzled by the bright lights of the buildings, lights, and neon signs.

"Careful Himiko, don't forget that we just came out of Danganronpa. Not to mention, we're wanted by the authorities and public. We shouldn't show our faces so casually." Maki advises, being wary.

"It's a good thing our jackets have hoods." Shuichi says as he looks around to find the cafe the person was talking about in the letter.

"Was that intentional?" He pondered in his head.

The traffic light in front them turned red, which made Shuichi halt the car he's driving in its tracks. Many people crossed the streets, peacefully walking by, without a care in the world, not even glancing at the cars beside them. Was this... the world that they've been thinking about? A peaceful world, no world ending threats, no destroyed buildings, no remnants of despair, it's just.. reality.

"I thought there were riots because we ended the Killing Game. Then, why is everyone here acting like nothing's happened." Maki asked.

"Yeah, I'm not sure about that." Shuichi answers.

"Maybe they don't like Danganronpa like the rest of the world." Himiko suggests an idea.

"Is that really possible?" Shuichi thought in his mind.

.....

"Shuichi, the light turned green." Maki says, tapping his shoulder to let him know.

"Ah, sorry." He notices and starts driving.

The town they're in was a quaint one. Not many vehicles on the street, not many people walking around, children laughing like nothing was wrong with the world.

"There's a lot going through your head, isn't there?" Maki suddenly told Shuichi.

"Wh-what? Where did that come from?" He says with a nervous laugh.

"I don't need to be an Ultimate Detective to figure it out from your face, Shuichi." Maki said.

"It's pretty obvious. You don't really have the best poker face when you're thinking Shuichi." Himiko chimes in, leaning in front from the backseat to face them.

"Hehe, is that so?" He chuckles as he turns the car to the right with an indicator.

"How could I not at this point? Even if my Ultimate is fictional, it's still implanted in me so, I have to get to the bottom of this." He continues, going into deep thought.

"Then don't take it on alone. We can help you too. That's what we're here for after all." Maki says with absolute sincerity.

"Huh?"

"Yeah, I... don't want to be a burden to you guys. So if you need help, be sure to tell me! I'll try to my best to be helpful!" Himiko says enthusiastically, ready to be of use to her fellow friends.

Shuichi and Maki then let out a hint of laughter due to Himiko's cute but genuine remark.

"I'll be sure to rely on you guys more in the future." He says with an honest smile on his face.

After a few minutes of driving through the city, looking for the café the person in the letter mentioned, they found it. A small building with a blue neon sign outside that says the name of its establishment. **Twilight Fable**.

"We're finally here." Shuichi states.

"You should park the car somewhere first." Maki advises.

Heeding Maki's advice, Shuichi tries to find a place for the car to park. Fortunately for them, there was a parking space near the café.

"Now what?" Himiko asks.

"Um, now we should try to meet with that person in the letter. He said that he would be sitting outside right?" Shuichi discusses with them as the snow falls outside the car.

"Yeah, let's try to be discreet. Not bring any attention to ourselves." Maki says to them, being rightfully cautious.

"Good thing we have these hoods!" Himiko says as she puts on her hood, only for it to be way too big for her head.

They all then have a good laugh over Himiko's oversized attire and readied themselves to go and meet this mysterious figure. They exit the car, hoods concealing their faces and minds made up. Shuichi and Himiko not bringing their satchels along while Maki did. However, as soon as Shuichi closed the door to his car and locked it using the car key, something struck him.

***Bam!***

.......

It was a kid. A little boy who didn't seem to be any older than 12. He was running playfully, enjoying the snow, only to bump into Shuichi, resulting in the both of them fall to the cold pavement, making his hood pull back, revealing his face. The key in his hand, dropping to the snow beside him.

"S-sorry, mister!" The little boy apologized to him.

A woman who then seems to be the boy's mother rushed to child's side with a worried and apologetic look on her face.

"I'm so sorry for my son's behavior!" The woman says to Shuichi.

The boy picks up the car key that Shuichi dropped in the snow.

"Here you go mister, you dropped it." The boy says with a smile as he hands Shuichi the key.

The mother then looks closely at the raven haired boy's face.

"Hey, don't you look like...?"

"?!"

Shuichi then notices his hood no longer on his head. "Is this the end?" He thought in his head.

"B-brother! Are you okay?!" A petite girl with red hair says with a voice a little higher pitched than her usual voice, ran to his side.

She then helps the raven haired boy up to his feet. As soon as he got up to his feet, he then quickly put on his hood.

"I'm sorry for my brother's idiotic behaviour." The girl with long pigtailed hair apologised with a deeper voice than her usual one as she bows down.

"E-eh? N-no, it's okay. It wasn't your brother's fault anyway." The mother reassures.

The three of them then bid farewell to the mother and child and went ahead in the direction of the Twilight Fable Café.

"It must've been my imagination..." The mother thought in her head as she walks off with her child in hand.

_______

"Ph-phew... that was close." Himiko said under her breath.

"S-sorry, I messed up." Shuichi apologized with his head down in frustration.

"You should really get your head out of the clouds, Shuichi." Maki told him.

"Y-yeah, I'll try to pay attention more and stop worrying about this... whole thing." He says as they all stop before a crosswalk. The traffic light, shining red.

"So... we're brothers and sister now, huh?" Himiko says with a cheeky smirk.

"Don't get any ideas, that was just an act." Maki shoots down the idea.

"I wonder which one of us would be oldest...?" Himiko wonders, ignoring Maki's statement.

"Definitely not you." Maki immediately says, suddenly bashing on Himiko.

"H-hey! I thought you weren't into this! Also I'm way more mature than you two!" Himiko says, flustered by what Maki just said.

"Hey, let's not fight over-." Shuichi tries to mediate the conversation, only to be cut off by a short girl.

"Hey Shuichi, which one of us would be the oldest?" Himiko suddenly asked an impossible question.

"H-huh, Wh-what?" Shuichi rightfully asks, confused of the situation.

Himiko's face shows eagerness, expecting an answer that would most certainly please her. Maki's head didn't turn to their idiotic chatter, but her eyes did. Curiosity on what Shuichi would answer made her wonder. And as for Shuichi... he desperately wanted to get out of this scenario. He then notices the light turn green and the pedestrians beside them start crossing the street. This was it. His escape.

"H-hey, the light turned green, w-we should go now." He says as he walks by Maki and Himiko, grateful for getting out of that conversation.

Suddenly two hands, grab him by his arms, one hand on both sides. The first hand was small with a weak grip, he could easily shake out of. The other hand was bigger and stronger, gripping him with such a force that couldn't be freed.

"Answer it...!" Maki and Himiko voices out with a silent scream. Both sounding terrifying.

"Grk?!" Shuichi then realises, there's no getting out of this.

He had to make a decision. But which was the correct one? If he chooses Himiko, Maki would give off that chilling stare of hers that Shuichi does not wish to be on the opposing side of. If he chooses Maki, Himiko would become all pouty and depressed, like a child who lost her favourite toy. Was there a right answer to this ultimatum? Just then, a few seconds later, he thought of the solution to this impossible question. He wasn't proud of it but it was the right thing to do.

"Wouldn't I be the oldest?" He spouted out, dazing Himiko and Maki.

"..."

"Wh-what?" They both said in a daze as they both let go of his arms.

"I am the tallest among all of us anyway and I think I look the oldest too." He says, trying to make a point.

Shuichi was right, he stood at a height of 5'7" while Maki had a height of 5'4" and finally Himiko with a height of 4'11". So his statement checks out. The three of them then begin walking through the crosswalk with undetermined faces on their heads.

"I-I get it now. Shuichi has a thing for younger sisters. I didn't expect him to be a siscon..." Himiko says with a disappointed face.

"I think I'm starting to get your character now, Shuichi." Maki says in a demeaning tone.

"Th-that wasn't my intention at all..." He says as all of them finally cross the street.

As they arrive in front of of the Twilight Fable Café, they feel a sense of anxiety in their veins.

"I wonder what kind of guy he is?" Himiko says as the chilling snow falls around them.

"I really hope this isn't a trap." Shuichi thought in his head.

"Where is he? Isn't he supposed to be here?" Maki said, looking around for the mysterious individual.

Suddenly, a man's hand raises from the corner of the café, hurriedly calling them over. The man is obviously trying to be discreet about all this. He too was wearing a hood. They all then look at each other, even with their hoods obscuring some of their sight, they knew what they had to do.

They walk towards the corner of the café, to a wooden circular table with three unoccupied seats. Himiko took the seat to the right of the man, Maki took the seat to the left of him while Shuichi took the seat facing the man. Shuichi couldn't properly see the man's face due to the dark environment and the hood blocking his face. But from what he could see, he seems to be a man in his mid to late 40s. He then looks at Shuchi and his friends with his hazel eyes. An ominous air fills the table as the three of them be cautious of this perplexing man. However, Shuichi could tell that something about his face was... familiar. He then grabs Shuichi's left hand and clasps it with his two hands. He then lets out his voice.

"Thank goodness, I'm so glad that you all made it out safely! I'm really happy you accepted my invitation." The man unexpectedly spouts out. That was certainly not what they had expected.

But wait, that voice...? It sounds all too familiar, coupled with his familiar face. Shuichi had already came to the conclusion on who he was but he didn't want to believe that theory.

"Y-you.. Are you-?"

The man then opens his hood.

"Ah, sorry, I should've introduced myself first. My name is Makoto Naegi. But I have a feeling you already know who I am, huh?"

_________

"Makoto... Naegi?" They all say in a daze.

"I'm guessing this is surprising for all of you, huh?" He says as he scratches his head while giving them a pleasant smile. His voice, sounding raspier than they expected, matching his age.

Shuichi's mind then went into hyperdrive.

"Why is Makoto here? Are we still trapped in a world by Danganronpa? Have we even escaped at all? Did we change anything?"

"Shuichi."

Maki's voice suddenly jolts Shuichi back into reality. He sees Maki's and Himiko's faces, telling him to calm down. He then breathes in, trying to relax himself.

"You... must have a lot of questions." The now old Makoto says to them. Knowing how they feel.

"More than that I think." Shuichi said.

"I did order hot water for you guys... but you took longer than expected." He says as he gestures at the glasses of the now cold water while chuckling awkwardly.

"Ooh, can I order hot chocolate?!" Himiko excitedly demands.

"Himiko..." Maki says as she glares at Himiko.

"I-it's okay. Do you guys want anything?" Makoto sincerely asks.

Shuichi and Maki then shake their heads, politely refusing his offer. Makoto then calls a waiter over to their table.

"Be sure to lay low." Makoto tells.

A waiter then arrives at their table, notepad in hand, ready to take their order. Makoto proceeds to order hot chocolate.

"*Ehem!*, with marshmallows." The little girl in the oversized hood suddenly spouts.

"W-with marshmallows..." Makoto says with a smirk.

The waiter nods his head and goes back inside the café to give their order.

"Were the marshmallows necessary?" Makoto asks Himiko.

"Of course! Marshmallows are essential for an amazing hot chocolate." Himiko says like she's a world class chocolatier.

"Don't we have more pressing matters to attend to?" Maki says in a serious tone with a piercing glare directed at the two of them.

"Y-you're right. Please ask away, I'll answer any question that you guys have." Makoto says.

"What should we ask first?" Himiko quietly tells them, leaning her head in.

"I know my first question." Shuichi thought in his head as he opens his mouth to ask his first question.

"How are you here?"

"E-eh? What do you mean by that?" Makoto asks, confused by Shuichi's question.

"Tsumugi told us that you didn't exist? That you and Hope's Peak and everything that's happened, was all fictional. Does that mean everything she said was a lie after all?" Maki says, finishing Shuichi's thought.

"Shuichi did say that's possible. But I don't think we can just believe everything we're hearing right now." Himiko says, adding a point to the question.

Makoto then felt dazed by all of their sudden statements. He then smiled, followed with a little giggle.

"Hehe, you guys... really trust each other huh?" He says with a sincere look on his face.

The three friends then look at each other and blush red, looking down trying to avoid each other's gaze.

"Tsumugi... you mean the mastermind of your Killing Game right? What she said, I wouldn't say it was all a lie." He says as he looks above, watching the snow descend from the dark night sky.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Himiko asks.

"The events that happened at first... if we're going by game terms, Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, Super Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls and the anime, Danganronpa 3: The End Of Hope's Peak Academy, all actually happened while everything else that came after that was made up." Makoto explains.

"R-really?" Shuichi asks.

"Though I believe it was a little overdramatised, but yeah most of the events happened." He says.

"S-so, Hope's Peak is real and The Biggest, Most Awful And Most Tragic Event In Human History actually happened?" Himiko asks.

"Well yeah but... Hope's Peak doesn't exist anymore... and that is not how the 'tragedy' exactly went."

"What do you mean by that?" Maki asks.

"Remember when I said not everything she said was a lie?" Makoto says with a darkened expression on his face.

He then begins to tell a story, something that he experienced many years ago...

________

**_20 years ago..._ **

"Y-you can't be serious! You're agreeing with them?!" The 26 year old Makoto says to his spectacled colleague. Frantically walking in the middle of the group.

"It's not that I agree with them Makoto. It's that we have no other choice." The spectacled colleague explains to him, walking calmly but with a face that says otherwise by the right of Makoto.

"That's very unlike you to give in so easily, Byakuya." The purple haired woman calmly argues back, walking at the left side of the group.

"Says the person that also gave in to them." The person named Byakuya fires back.

"Y-yeah Kyoko, why would you do that?!" Makoto exclaims to her.

"I'm sorry Makoto. The proof that they had against us were overwhelming. There was nothing that could be done." She makes a bitter point.

"You've got to be kidding me. First, they cancel my plans for Ultimates and now, they're going to make another Killing Game..." Makoto says as he hangs his face down.

"I know it's hard Makoto, but we have to bear with it for now." Kyoko says, hating herself at the idea.

"Bear with it? N-no, what are you saying?! There's no way I can bear with this!" He speaks his heart out, adamantly rejecting the very notion.

"And do you have any other ideas? A solution to this madness?" Byakuya suddenly questions him.

"H-huh? I.. I don't know. B-but-!"

"Then there's nothing you can do. I truly wish there were any other way but it seems that this is the only solution to all of this." Byakuya interjects, clenching his fist in frustration.

"N-no way..."

"We're gonna try our best to dismantle this whole operation but I'm not sure on how well we'll do." Kyoko tells him.

"But, is there... really no way to stop this from happening?" He asks, his face showing anguish.

"Me and my corporation will do our best to destroy this embarrassing game show. I can assure you that." Byakuya says, meaning every word of it.

"But maybe... it won't be us that stops it." Kyoko suddenly says what's on her mind.

"What are you talking about?" Byakuya asks at Kyoko's odd statement.

"I'm saying that, maybe someone else will end this nightmare for us. Someone we wouldn't necessarily expect..."

_________

"Eh, she meant us? N-no wait, that doesn't explain anything!" Shuichi exclaimed, slamming his fist on the table.

"Sh-Shuichi, calm down!" Himiko says, trying to calm his nerves.

"Don't draw attention to ourselves." Maki advises.

"S-sorry..." He apologised.

"I know that you're all confused about all that's going on right now." Makoto tells them.

"Then I think you should go into more depth about what you're saying." Maki says to Makoto.

"Yeah, okay. Well, it all started when I tried to start a project, a project to train a new batch of Ultimates to help restore hope into the world. I called it the ' _Ultimate Rejuvenation Program_ '. But a short while after the announcement of the project, it got shut down..." Makoto says, hanging his head down in defeat.

"Shut down? Why?" Himiko asks in an uneasy face.

"Because of the government and the higher ups. They all blamed Ultimates for the Tragedy. But I can't say I blame them, if Ultimates didn't exist, Junko Enoshima never would've happened. And because of that, they wanted everyone in the world to stay... average. The government banned the making of Ultimate Students, forbidding them to train their talents any more than they're supposed to. And with that, they shut down Hope's Peak Academy." Makoto explains to them with a remorseful face.

"Th-that doesn't make any sense! Ultimates shouldn't have been blamed for the Tragedy, it's not like they knew it would've happened!" Himiko spouts out in a flustered tone.

"I understand your frustration but it is what it is." Makoto breaks it to them.

"Even if what you're saying is true, why would the government hold a Killing Game? Something for the entire world to see?" Maki sternly asks.

"Well, it's-."

"Excuse me sirs and madams, here is what you ordered." The waiter says as he places the pleasantly smelled hot chocolate with 5 soft marshmallows floating gently inside it.

Himiko's eyes then light up in awe of the sweet aroma, tingling all over her body, her mouth watering in the smell of deliciousness.

"C-can I..?"

"Go ahead." Shuichi says with a welcoming smile.

Himiko then excitedly picks up the cup and starts drinking, immediately regretting her decision as her tongue burns at the taste of the delicious but scorching taste of the chocolatey drink. She lets out a yelp after drinking it then slowly blows on the drink, making it easier for her to drink.

"So, as you were saying?" Maki says, getting back on topic.

"The government, I... I never understood their decision, not at all..." He says, his hands trembling, but not from the cold.

"The world before the Killing Game, it wasn't completely peaceful but I would've chosen that world over this one. And all because I agreed to that stupid offer..." He says with regret in his voice and face.

"Offer? What do you mean?" Shuichi asked.

"One day, someone from the entertainment industry, came to me, wanting to make a video game about The Killing Game that I participated in. And I agreed to it, thinking that nothing would've gone wrong." He continued, clenching his fist.

"But then, they made another game, then another, then an anime show, and then a drama TV show, and then movies and then more and more and more. And then... 5 years later, 28 Killing Games of different kinds of media... they decided to take it a step further. They pitched the idea of a real life Killing Game, a Killing Game with actual people participating, where they'd kill each other for the world's entertainment..." He stops, no longer wanting to continue.

A moment of silence was then held. Sullen looks on their faces as they look downward. Himiko, putting her cup of hot chocolate down, no longer in the mood to drink it. Maki then gave Makoto a menacing look, her crimson red eyes piercing his brown eyes. She then takes something out of her satchel and poked him with it. Makoto was then stiffened by the sharp item touching his stomach. Shuichi and Himiko look down under the table to see what Makoto was so stunned about and saw what Maki was holding.

"M-Maki, what are you doing?!" Shuichi quietly yells at her.

"I-I thought you were done being an assassin and really scary!" Himiko loudly whispered in fear.

Maki was currently holding her signature knife. Poking the stomach of Makoto Naegi. Her piercing glare locked on his face.

"If this turns out to be another cheap trick from Team Danganronpa... I'll make sure you regret it." Maki threatens in an unnerving tone.

Makoto then grasped the wrist of Maki's that was holding the knife, without fear in his eyes and said to her.

"I know, that all of you have been through a lot and after what you've gone through, it's hard to believe anything I'm saying. Trust me, I know how it all feels. So, if I am lying to all of you right now, I will gladly offer my life to earn your trust."

With such determination, Makoto managed to speak all those words without hesitation or fear. Maki, stunned by Makoto's bravery or idiocy, she puts away the knife. Luckily she did all this discreetly under the table, so no one notices the situation that just unfolded besides those sitting on the table.

"Hah, you're kind of an idiot. I'll be holding onto that promise of yours if all this turns out to be a lie." Maki says as she puts the knife back in her satchel.

They all then breathe a sigh of relief.

"S-so that's why she brought her satchel along?" Shuichi thought in his head.

"I know that it must be terrifying for all of you, living in this new reality but I know that all of you can get through it. You are the ones that ended the Killing Game after all." Makoto says with a comforting smile.

They all look at each other and smile at the statement.

"Are there any other questions?" He asked them.

"Y-yeah, I've been meaning to ask this, why is this town so peaceful?" Shuichi said to him. That question, rattling around in his mind.

"Ah, this town? Well, surprisingly, despite being so close to the Danganronpa Production Studio, the townsfolk here are not the biggest fans of the Killing Game." Makoto explains.

"So I was right!" Himiko yells out in a proud tone.

"Yeah, apparently Danganronpa was a great help to this town economically. Many tourists who want to go to the Production Studio would have to visit this town first and that clearly helped them. They sell merchandise, while they are not proud of doing so." Makoto says.

"Why... are you talking the benefits of the Killing Game? There is... there shouldn't be any good things coming out of this at all!" Shuichi adamantly tells Makoto.

"I.. don't know. In times likes these, I like to focus on the good things rather than the bad." Makoto says with a sullen face.

"Y-you... fine.." Shuichi grunts, slumping back on his chair.

"...Any other questions?" Makoto says after a brief pause.

"How did we get our talents?" Himiko asked, out of the blue.

Shuichi and Maki were then surprised by her question. Not because the question was odd or anything, but why haven't they themselves asked that question first?

"Ah, that? Well, I'm surprised, you didn't ask this sooner." Makoto says, scratching his head with a smile.

Maki and Shuichi thought the same thing.

"Well, that was made possible by a piece of technology by Professor Idabashi, it-."

"Hold on, Professor Idabashi? Isn't that.." Shuichi cuts off as he hears the familiar name.

"That's the name of the person who created K1-B0, right?" Maki says, having the same thought as Shuichi.

"Wait, he's real?!" Himiko says in shock as she realises why the name sounded familiar.

"Eh, you've heard of him?" Makoto asks.

"...He was the creator of one of our friends." Shuichi tells.

"H-hold on a second, could it be that Professor Idabashi was actually mentioned in the show?" Makoto asks with a bewildered face.

"Y-yeah, our friend K1-B0 told us that he was the one that built him." Shuichi says.

"Th-that's weird... I thought Team Danganronpa didn't allow anything from this world besides us anyway, to be told in the show. Especially someone like Idabashi." Makoto ponders.

"Why? Is that bad?" Himiko asks in confusion.

"Well, you see, Professor Idabashi is very famous in this world. He was revolutionary and created many kinds of technology that helped benefit mankind."

"Okay? So what if he's famous?" Maki asks, not seeing the point.

"Um well, Team Danganronpa was very strict on the rules of making a new... Killing Game. One of the rules that they were constantly stressing about was..."

**_No mention of our reality and/or the current state it is in to any of the participants._ **

"This was because they were scared that the participants might just remember that everything was fake. Not to mention, it'll ruin the game." Makoto finishes.

"So what you're saying is, why did Team Danganonpa let K1-B0 mention such an important figure to all of us, even though it could potentially ruin the game?" Shuichi answers after putting the pieces together.

"Heh, as expected from the Ultimate Detective. And yes, that's what I'm saying." Makoto says with a chuckle.

However, that does spark a good question. Why would Team Danganronpa have K1-B0 such a famous person to the participants? Was it a mistake? No, it couldn't be. They were very meticulous in planning all of this and this isn't their first Killing Game either. Then, did the creator want to make his name known through K1-B0? Or was it K1-Bo's programming? Perhaps a malfunction? Did they just overlook it? Well, the question can't be answered now.

"Well, I'll be sure to ask Idabashi when I get back. But, back to our main topic. The Ultimate Victory Light or the U.V Light for short."

"Ultimate... Victory?"

"Well, that's what Idabashi said it was when he finally managed to create it. It was a hard project for him to complete and then he took it as a challenge he had to complete. And apparently when he finally completed he yelled out "Ultimate Victory!" Which gave him the name of the light." Makoto explains.

"Okay.. how does it work?" Shuichi asked.

"Well, it's quite complicated. You see, by using DNA samples and memories and knowledge from the Ultimates it inherited it from, it manages to give all of you your Ultimates."

"Eh, I don't get it..." Himiko says.

"Um, basically, by taking memories and DNA samples and just general knowledge from us, they convert it into light waves so they can use it to create Ultimates for the show." Makoto tells.

"So, what you're saying is... we all got our talents from someone else?" Shuichi asks.

"Y-yeah, that's the general premise of it. It makes a sort of placebo effect illusion in your mind. And that's enough to make you Ultimates." Makoto tells them.

"Th-that's crazy." Himiko responds.

"You're right about that. The U.V Light has more than a hundred talents stored inside of it, making it a very dangerous weapon. With that, you can make your own army of Ultimates in just a literal flash. Luckily, since the world's so peaceful, no one except Team Danganronpa has been using them for their own awful means." Makoto breaks it down to all of them.

"And then we changed that. The world isn't peaceful anymore is it?" Maki said with a sullen face.

"Th-that's not it. Don't blame yourselves for that!" Makoto reassures them.

He then leans forward and whispered to the three of them.

"You don't have to worry about all the lights. Later on, tonight, we're going to go in the Team Danganronpa Production Studio and confiscating all of them." He whispers to them to ease their minds on the situation.

"That's reassuring." Shuichi says, relieved.

"Yeah, tell me about it." Makoto says as he leans back in his chair. His face suddenly becoming more serious.

"There is... something I want to talk to you guys about." He says with a stern face.

"What is it? You look more serious than before." Shuichi points out.

"As I've told you, Ultimates are no longer allowed in this world. But all of you... changed that. I bet everyone's thinking of the change in the world order. Shuichi, Maki, Himiko, all of you are the only Ultimates that aren't from the past like me, Kyoko or Byakuya. The three of you are the New Ultimates." He tells all of them, his hands clasped on the table.

"N-New... Ultimates..?" They all say in confusion.

"Yes, usually after the game is over, they would erase their talents using the machine in the Nullification Room but since you guys ruined the Killing Game, they never had the chance." Makoto tells them.

"Nullification Room? That's the room we found but couldn't open in the studio right?" Shuichi thought in his head.

"And since you guys ended the Killing Game, all of you will now be a target by everyone. I just want all of you to be safe. With your talents, you can change the world to be more hopeful than ever. So..." He extends his hand towards Shuichi.

"Will you help all of us, fill this world full of hope?" He says with a smile.

They all then shudder in fear. What he just said.. was almost like the fake Makoto said in the script they found back in the studio. Their hearts start racing in anxiety. Was this really Makoto Naegi? They thought once again. What if this all another trick? A ploy for the whole world to see and be amused by? They all then stand up in unison. Shuichi slamming the table as he stands.

"E-eh? Wh-what's wrong?" Makoto says, surprised by their reactions.

"U-use our talents to change the world? You've got to be kidding me. You're telling us this right after we went through hell and you're expecting us to use these talents... that was given to us by a company that tormented us and caused the deaths of all our friends... that's bullshit!" Shuichi yells out to Makoto.

"I-I'm sorry if I'm asking too-."

"You should be sorry." Maki coldly cuts Makoto off.

Everyone in a close vicinity stares at the three hooded people lashing out to Makoto Naegi.

"W-we should go." Himiko tells them.

"Yeah, we should." Maki says.

Shuichi simply nods weakly to the request and they all turn their backs to leave the café.

"W-wait, I-." Makoto says as stands up and chases after them. His hand reaching for Shuichi's shoulder, only to be stopped by an iron grip.

Maki was firmly holding onto Makoto's right wrist. Makoto's wrist starting to hurt.

"Are you planning on stopping us from leaving?" Maki says coldly with her piercing stare directed at Makoto.

"I-I'm sorry for not th-thinking of your feelings.. I really am..." Makoto tells them through the pain.

"Maki, let him go. Don't draw attention to ourselves remember?" Shuichi weakly tells her.

Maki and Shuichi then leave the café, stares of others following them. Makoto then looks at Himiko, staring at him. She too, then turns her back. Makoto then rushes to her to tell her something important.

"Hi-Himiko, please at least, go to this place. It's a safe house, I promise it will keep you out of danger and away from the public eye... and be sure to tell Shuichi, _nothing is a coincidence._ He tells her as he hands a small piece of paper and a set of keys to her.

Himiko then stares at the paper and key and then back at him.

"Thank you for the hot chocolate." She says with a weak smile as she runs off to catch up with Shuichi and Maki. Leaving Makoto to his lonesome.

" _*Sigh*_ , I'm such an idiot...." He says to himself as the snow falls down. Reflecting the emotions held inside him.

_________

_An hour before..._

A small boat was traversing the starry sea in a fast pace, with only one man on the boat. A man who knows what he's doing, step by step, as if he was trained to. As if he's talented to. The man who was looking for the three survivors that ended the Killing Game.

"Hmph, what should I do when I arrive there? How would I find those three?" The white haired man ponders in his head as he has his hands on the steering wheel.

The man then turns on his phone which was given and made by a certain someone. He reads the news surrounding the three of them, and most of 'em weren't pretty.

——————

 _The Three Survivors: Wanted And Dangerous._ **Will The Three Surviving Students Of The Killing Game Bring Back The End Times?** _Global_ **Outrage** _Over The Statement Made By The Fake Detective._ **Riots Happening All Over The World Due To The Shocking End Of Danganronpa.** **_Fans Of The Series Searching For The Three Survivors, Wanting To_ ** **_ Execute _ ** **_Them With Their Own Hands._ **

——————

Those were just a few of the disturbing articles surrounding the internet. The man reading through all of them, only showed disappointment and disgust in his face.

"Humans... most of them really are just boring creatures. Always thinking of themselves in the end." The man says to himself.

But upon searching the internet, there was one article that caught the man's attention.

—————

**Why Shuichi, Maki And Himiko Were Right About Us And How All of Us Should Change For The Better Of The World.**

_Hello, I am a humble bystander who used to be a fan of the popular series, Danganronpa. At first, I never understood why people were so into the show. I thought it was wrong to enjoy the death of people, watching them get executed, throwing their lives away for fame and fortune. But then, a few years ago, I watched it and immediately got immersed in the show. I never understood why I did but in the end, I enjoyed every savoring second of it, how they fought to live, how creative the executions were, seeing how they could all overcome the despair, it was so very entertaining. And there, I understood why I enjoyed Danganronpa so much. I live a very mediocre life, working for the same company for who knows how long, just another corporate slave in the masses, someone who has no purpose in life. Watching the same TV shows, eating the same food, overworking myself just to survive, walking to my workplace without any goal or dream in my mind, it was like my life was... nothing. And when I saw Danganronpa, it gave me a purpose, something to look forward to when I got home. People said that the reason Danganronpa exists is to keep the peace in our world, providing entertainment in an otherwise boring world and I bought it. I thought it was for the greater good of the world. Sacrificing a few to save the many. But then, Danganronpa V3 happened. The speech made by the Ultimate Detective, Shuichi Saihara changed me. He taught me that, what kind of peace do we have if we're willing to kill off innocent people for the sake of our enjoyment? That's not peace at all, it's just... insane. Enjoying the death of real, innocent people, what kind of entertainment have we... have I enjoyed? Just because it gives us an escape from reality, that makes it okay? Okay to cheer for people with their lives on the line? Okay to enjoy the show that holds a public execution for our amusement? We are not the uncivilized people of the old. We should not feel pleasure in indulging in this type of entertainment without a second thought that if this is wrong in the first place. What Shuichi said inspired me to be better and I will work towards it and strive to be the best me I can possibly be. So even if the whole world's turn their back on those three, I will support them with all my might and make people see the good in themselves. For the sake of all of the people that died for Danganronpa, to everyone reading this, we have to change for the better of this world._

—————

Upon reading and understanding the article made by this odd individual, the man then chuckled a smile.

"Hmph, it looks like a portion of them aren't so boring after all... but I guess I should know that more than anyone else. **She** taught that to me after all." The man thinks to himself, smiling at the thought of his dear friend.

The man stares at the vast sea, thinking to himself, dazing off in his mind.

"Maybe **he** would know. Knowing him, he most probably would've already met them. I can't believe I resemble that guy..."

He then takes out his phone and makes a call.

"I can't believe how excited I am to meet them..."

_To be continued in the fourth chapter..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, so much for what I said in the last chapter huh? Call me whatever you want, I most probably deserve it. I have WAY too many ideas for this Afterstory. I really tried to make this into one chapter then I realised how long it got so I had to separate them again. But! This is the last time I do this again. I swear. For real this time. If I don't uphold my end of the bargain, I will hold my own execution for the whole world to see. I also thought that it's been too long since an update and wouldn't want to keep you guys waiting. Silver lining, the 4th chapter is almost halfway done due to the split I made so you can expect the next update pretty soon. Hope you guys will continue to enjoy my story and continue to support it till the end! Until next time!


	4. Lasting Pains

What does it mean to be weak? What do you imagine a weak person to be? A scrawny little boy who can't hold his own against the bigger kids? Is that what you're thinking? Let me ask you this, who's the weaker one? The scrawny boy who never gives up no matter the obstacles that are thrown at him or the strong and muscular man who cries whenever there's something he can't handle? What is _your_ definition of weak? To many, weakness is a disgraceful thing to have. But weakness is a necessity in this world. It's what makes us human. It teaches us the lesson of humility, that we're not perfect. And that's okay, it's great that we know our weaknesses, it teaches us to strive to be better than before, trying to push to be something we can't reach. But isn't that amazing? How much we can achieve if we really put our minds to it? Well... knowing these three, it'll be hard to push through all the things they've been through right? With hope in their hearts and ours. The three of them will have to try their hardest... to be strong.

________

Shuichi and Maki make it back to the car where Shuichi releases his emotions.

"D-damn it! Why did I do that?!" He says as he punches the dashboard of the car.

Maki, who was at the driver's seat, looked at Shuichi with empathy in her eyes.

"Don't put it all on yourself Shuichi." She reassures him.

"I-I don't know why... I did that. I thought I had already embraced my Ultimate but when I heard Makoto say all those things that Team Danganronpa did, I felt disgusted to have this... talent." Shuichi mentions talent in a disgusted manner.

Himiko then enters the car shortly after. Sitting at the backseat of the car like before. She looks at the faces of her two friends and lets out a sigh.

"Well, that could've gone better." She says, exasperated.

The three of them, gripped by anguish, their faces, full of remorse. They have no idea what they're supposed to do now.

"So, what do we do now?" Himiko asks.

"I guess.. we find a place to stay." Shuichi suggests in a monotone voice.

"How are we supposed to do that? It's not like we have any money. Not to mention, our faces are televised for everyone to see." Maki says.

"Well.. there is this." Himiko says, taking out the piece of paper that Makoto gave her.

"What's this?" Shuichi says, taking the paper from her hand.

He unfolds it to see, what seems to be an address. But for what? There was also an odd sentence written at the back of the paper.

 **Please Occupy Knowingly, Earnestly, Rightfully and Conceal After** **_Room_ ** **Discovery**

 **Key** _Hex Numbers:_  
_F, E, D, C, B, A, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5..._

What does this mean? Do they mean themselves? But why phrase it like that? And what's with all those numbers?

"Apparently, Makoto said that it's a safe house and we'll be safe there." She explains.

"Is this all he gave you?" Shuichi asks.

"Um, he also gave this." She says as she hands him the set of (silver?) keys that Makoto gave.

He inspects the keys closer. There are 3 keys in the keyring, each of them, looking very peculiar. And on each key, a letter is engraved. Following the order of the keys, it's, 12, 14, _10._

"Why are there letters on the keys? Aren't there usually numbers?" Shuichi thought in his head.

"Is that safe house really secure? How can we be sure that it's not a trap?" Maki says cautiously.

"I-I don't think it's a trap, I.. trust Makoto." Himiko mutters, retorting Maki's statement.

"What do you think Shuichi?" Maki says, breaking Shuichi off from his thought.

"Oh, huh? Um, well, we should at least check it out. It's not like we have anywhere else that we can go." He says, being logical.

Both of the girls then nod their heads. Maki starts then the car and drives to their destination.

_________

After some leisurely chitchat in the car on the about what they really wanted to do in the distant future, they calmed their nerves about the whole 'situation', they arrive at a shady looking motel.

"This... is not what I expected..." Himiko says, looking disappointed.

They go inside, the motel definitely was as it looked from the outside. The interior wasn't unbearably dirty but it wasn't on the clean side either. There was no one at the reception table. A little irresponsible to just leave it unoccupied.

"I hope our room at least has working indoor plumbing..." Himiko says, looking more distraught than before.

The note tells them to go to to Room 11. Heeding the note, they take the elevator to the third floor of the motel where the room is located. They see the number 11 plate, stuck on the door at the end of the hall. They take their steps to the door as Shuichi takes out the keys from his pockets. The door to the room was not the cleanest, not surprising considering the condition of this motel. They notice a black mailbox stuck to the right side of the door. One of the ones from the eleven seems to be missing from the mailbox. Most probably fell off or something. They stop in front of the door and Shuichi asks what he's been wondering in his mind...

"Why are there three keys? We're only opening one door after all." Shuichi asks.

"Well, maybe you need all three keys to open the door. Y'know, to tighten the security?" Himiko suggests.

"Why not you try them first?" Maki tells.

Shuichi, still wondering what it could mean, inserted the keys, one by one, by the order at the keyring. _12, 14, 10._

He turns the knob to the door, locked.

"Eh?" They all say in surprise and confusion.

Shuichi also could've sworn he heard a 'bzzt!' sound when he tried to open the door.

"Wh-what? What's happening? Did they give us the wrong keys or something?" Himiko says, starting to freak out.

"Did they trick us?" Maki says, doubting Makoto.

Shuichi then takes out the piece of paper that Makoto gave from his pocket and inspected it closer. It took him a short while to realise what it all meant.

"It's a puzzle." He realises.

"Huh?" The two girls ask in confusion.

"Did Makoto tell you any hints or clues about this Himiko?" Shuichi questions.

"Umm.... oh yeah! He said that... uhh, _nothing was a coincidence._ " She said.

"Nothing is a coincidence?" Shuichi muttered to himself.

"Hold on, give me a minute..." He says, trying to decipher the puzzle.

He looks at his surroundings, and processes everything that he sees.

"Nothing should be a coincidence. This is a safe room after all. They'd design it to be hard to open." Shuichi thought in his head.

The 11 on the door, the hex numbers and the strange sentence written in the note, the mailbox with only one number 1 from the number 11, the keys with numbers... how are they all connected?

It took him a minute of processing but then with an "Ah!" from his mouth, he finally understood. He walked to the door in stride and inserted the keys, this time, in a different order.

_10... 12... 14..._

He then turns the doorknob...

***...Tchik!***

It opened... the door actually opened. Shuichi then let out a sigh of relief and invited Maki and Himiko inside. He closes the door behind him in which he hears a buzzing noise and a click. He looks at the door and sees an elaborate electronic system guarding it. At the left side of the doorframe there was a note stuck to a blue button. It said:

**_To get out of the room, press the blue button and turn the doorknob._ **

"This must be the thing that kept us from entering." Shuichi thought in his head.

"How did you figure it out?" Maki asks, puzzled by the thought.

"Well, I can explain but it's sort of complicated. We should look around the room first, I'll be sure to tell you guys about it later." He tells them, letting out a smirk while scratching the back of his head.

The two girls nod their heads in agreement and the three of them begin to inspect the room. The room was pretty clean, all things considered. The apartment was quite small with only a living room, a small sized kitchen, one bathroom and one bedroom. In the living room, there was a couch that fit the three of them just nicely and in front of it, a coffee table and in front of that, a flat screen TV that was placed on the wall. There was also a briefcase with a sort of smartphone atop of it on the dining table which piqued their interest.

"What is this?" Shuichi said as he reached to open the case.

"Be careful, you don't know what's in there." Maki said with caution.

He opened the case with hesitation. Only to find the case, full of cash. ¥300,000 in total. That is... a lot of money. With that there was also a note saying:

_Use it as you will._

"Th-this is..." Shuichi said in astonishment.

"We can buy so many things with this kind of money!" Himiko says, giddy with excitement, like a child getting her favourite toy.

"Let's not get too hasty. I'm guessing that smartphone is ours to use. Let's see what else this apartment has." Maki says, being level headed on the situation.

As for the kitchen, all the essentials were there. Plates, utensils, an oven, a microwave, a decently sized fridge, a stove and enough food and water to supply them for a while. The bathroom meanwhile, was not big but not too small either, it had a shower, a toilet, a washing machine and everything you needed to clean yourself. Himiko breathed a relieved sigh that the toilet works just fine. And then, they moved to the bedroom. It only had one bed, but it was quite spacious. Must be a king sized bed. But what caught their eyes wasn't the bed but what was on the bed. A small black case with a yellow sticky note at the top. Shuichi takes the note and reads it.

 _"A present. From me to you._ " He reads, and wonders the meaning behind the words.

Shuichi then reaches for the case and opens it cautiously. The three are then shocked by the contents of the case.

"Is this..." Shuichi says, slightly bewildered.

"N-no way, why would they..." Himiko said with a gasp.

"I should've expected this when I saw the case." Maki mutters, not showing the same amount of shock as the other two.

All things considered, the three of them did not expect a pistol to be placed in what should be called a 'safe house'.

"W-w-why is a gun here?!" Himiko shouts, backing herself up from the pistol.

Maki then walks up to the case and casually picks up the pistol. She then carefully inspects the gun, turning it around and looking closely at the smooth black gun in her hands. The clip was already inside the pistol with another magazine placed inside the case.

"This... is a Ruger SR9c." Maki tells them.

"W-what?" The other two say.

"Manufactured in the United States and has a 9mm caliber, it also holds 17 bullets in its magazine. The 'c' in its name stands for 'compact' in English and it has a barrel length of 3.4 inches or 8.6 centimetres. Not only that, it-."

"Maki."

Maki snaps out of her trance and looks at them to see awkward smiles spread across their faces. Maki then turns her head away and blushes in response. She then places the pistol back inside the case.

"Looks like my talent as an assassin is still lingering inside me." She says in a soft and cute voice.

Besides the gun on the bed and the door of this place, it's pretty much your standard looking apartment. They then sit at the couch where they ask Shuichi the question from before.

"Oh, the puzzle? Well, I'll try my best to explain."

Shuichi then explains the puzzle to them.

——————

First, the puzzle itself, when Shuichi heard the buzzing noise coming from the door, he knew it was a puzzle. With Shuichi's quick thinking, he managed to figure out that you had to insert the keys in the right order to unlock the door. The question is, what was the right combination. That lies in the piece of paper that Makoto gave. That gave Shuichi a clue on how to solve it. For the first sentence, it was simple, all you you had to do was take the first letter of the words that were capitalised.

 **_ P _ ** **lease** **_ O _ ** **ccupy** **_ K _ ** **nowingly,** **_ E _ ** **arnestly,** **_ R _ ** **ightfully and** **_ C _ ** **onceal** **_ A _ ** **fter** **_ R _ ** **_oom_ ** **_ D _ ** **iscovery —— > POKER CARD**

That wasn't the only clue that this sentence had. The word 'room' had a special font so it must've been a clue involving the room we were entering. The other sentence had it too. With the word 'key' being in a special font.

 **Key** _Hex Numbers:_  
_F, E, D, C, B, A, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5..._

The first indication of the POKER CARD clue that pricked Shuichi's instincts was the different numbers on the door and the mailbox. Considering that it was a clue to the room based on the sentence and since Makoto said that 'nothing was a coincidence', taking it at face value, Shuichi connected the dots... What do playing cards and the numbers 1 and 11 have in common? And by putting two and two together, he arrived at the answer.

Next was the key puzzle which was fairly simple. All he had to do was replace the numbers on the keys with the corresponding letters on the hex numbers and he got the answer and combination.

_10(A), 12(C), 14(E)_

**_ACE_ **

——————

"And that's how I solved the puzzle." Shuichi finishes his closing argument.

After a few moments of silence, the girls then begin clapping.

"As expected of you, Shuichi." Maki says with a smile, clapping her hands slowly and softly after hearing Shuichi's deductions.

"You're so smart, Shuichi! It would've taken me forever to figure that one out." Himiko says while enthusiastically clapping.

"Ah, I don't deserve that much praise." Shuichi tells them, embarrassed by their reactions.

Shuichi then looks at the bathroom and smelled himself. And let's just say, he's smelt better. He excuses himself to go take a shower and the girls nod in agreement. Maki then looks at Himiko, wanting to ask something that she's been wondering in her mind.

"You haven't talked about your magic for quite a while now." Maki tells her.

"Huh?! Wh-what are you talking about?" Himiko asks, flustered by Maki's sudden statement.

"Your magic and Mp and all that. You haven't talked about it ever since we got into the car." Maki elaborates.

"W-well... that's because..."

"Himiko, is something bothering you?" Maki asks out of concern.

".....I wanna change myself..."

"What?"

"When I slept in the car, I had a dream. It was dark and lonely. I thought I had lost you guys. I was so scared to do anything there. And then she showed up. Tenko. She told me the exact same words she did before she... passed on. She also told me to be stronger. So, I want to do that. I don't want to rely on my magic anymore. The talent that was given to me by Team Danganronpa, I shouldn't need it. I can be stronger for my own sake." Himiko confesses to Maki.

After hearing Himiko's reasoning, Maki doesn't know how to feel. She was left speechless, unable to tell her if that was the right or wrong thing to do, to just abandon your identity, even if it was fiction just like. A few moments later, Shuichi comes out of the shower. Trying to dry off his still soaked hair with a towel. He was wearing the clothes that Makoto and the others prepared for them. It was just a simple black t-shirt and blue trousers that looked comfy to wear.

"You got out pretty fast." Maki said to Shuichi.

"Ah, well I thought that you girls also wanted to shower so I just did a quick scrub." Shuichi says, trying to be considerate.

He then notices the sullen faces of his two friends.

"What's wrong you two? Did something happen?" Shuichi asked.

"No it's just..." Maki wasn't able to finish her statement.

"I want to change myself. To be more useful to you guys.” Himiko finishes.

A silence is then followed by Himiko's statement. Shuichi being as taken aback as Maki was.

"I see... that's good then. So that's why you haven't talked about magic in while." Shuichi responds with a small smirk.

"Though, I have to admit I will miss that magical side of you, Himiko." Shuichi says with a smile.

Himiko then gets embarrassed and flustered, having her cheeks turn red.

"Well... it's not like my accumulated magic can leave my body just like that.... So there will be instances where I can't contain my magic and I have to release it occasionally so my body won't implode on itself and destroy the whole word in the process." Himiko says, trying to hide her gleeful grin.

Himiko then stands and takes a deep breath.

"For I, Himiko Yumeno, am the greatest mage to ever exist in this world and I have sworn an oath to protect the both of you, with my life and my magic!" Himiko says with pride and seriousness, doing an extravagant pose. You could almost imagine a cape behind her, flapping in the wind.

Shuichi then burst into a playful laughter, Maki giving out a few chuckles too. This was the Himiko that Maki and Shuichi knew.

_________

After Maki and Himiko took their individual baths. They all gather at the front of the bedroom and stare at the single bed.

"So... how are we going to do this?" Maki asks, her hair still damp from being the last one to enter the shower. Wearing a red t-shirt and near identical looking comfy trousers that Shuichi is wearing, the only difference being the colour which is black with white stripes along the side.

"That's a good question..." Himiko says flatly. She is wearing a fluffy looking shirt which looks a little big for her and she also wore grey sailor pants.

"I can sleep on the couch." Shuichi tells them out of kindness and a hint of embarrassment.

"Huh, what are you talking about?" Maki suddenly speaks up.

"Eh?" Shuichi says in confusion.

"You worked so hard today. Why do you need to sleep on the couch?" Himiko says.

"B-but..." Shuichi stutters.

"This isn't a conversation we should be having. I'll sleep on the couch. You guys sleep on the bed." Maki tells, pretty adamant about it.

"H-huh?!"x2

"I've slept through much worse than this. According to my memories anyway." Maki says bluntly.

"Wait, wait, wait! That's not the problem here!" Shuichi says, incredibly flustered, flailing his arms around like a madman.

"Ehem, ehem, I would feel bad for Maki who'd be sleeping on the couch. So I'll be the one sleeping on the couch. It's a better place to replenish my magic anyway. You and Shuichi can sleep together." Himiko tells Maki.

"Huh?!"x2

"It's fine, really! You guys can sleep on the bed." Shuichi retorts, trying to win the argument.

"You guys worked way harder than me. You guys should sleep on the bed, you deserve it way more than I do!" Himiko speaks up.

"How many times do I have to tell you? My body's adapted to this kind of situation because of Team Danganronpa. I'll be fine on the couch." Maki tells them blatantly.

This back and forth debate went on for quite a while. Each trying their best, presenting their arguments to win this furious debate of who sleeps on the couch. They just got out of a life threatening situation and realised the reality as they know it was fiction, and this is what they're arguing about right now.

"Nyeh, that's it!" She says, falling flat on the bed, exasperated.

Shuichi and Maki then look at Himiko, a little dumbfounded.

"So you're sleeping on the bed then, Himiko?" Shuichi says, with an awkward smile.

"That means it's just you and me now Shuichi." Maki informs, ready to battle Shuichi for who sleeps on the couch.

The two stare each other down, readying their rebuttals to win the argument. This wasn't going to be an easy battle. Shuichi is a person who was given the talent to do these kinds of things, however Maki was headstrong and steadfast in her approach, making her a hard target to take down. It could be anyone's win. But before they could start their debate, Himiko spoke up.

"That's enough you guys!" She shouts, still lying face down on the bed.

The two then turn to Himiko, stunned by her voice telling them to stop.

"All of us are sleeping on the bed. No more excuses." Himiko tells them.

"Huh?" Maki and Shuichi say, dumbfounded by the idea.

"We're all friends here so what's the problem with all of us sleeping on the bed together?" Himiko states.

"W-well, th-that's...." Shuichi says, blushing at the notion of all of them sleeping together.

Maki then breathes an exasperated sigh and walks to the bed.

"M-Maki?" Shuichi says.

"We're all tired here and at this point, I don't think we should care about who sleeps where anymore. As Himiko says, we're all friends here right." Maki says, sitting on the opposite side of Himiko on the bed.

"Well, then I'll sleep on the cou-." Shuichi couldn't finish his statement.

"Shuichi."x2

Maki and Himiko stare at Shuichi maliciously. Clear on what their intent was, he gives in, turns off the light to the room and lays on the bed with them.

Maki was on the left side of the bed, Himiko was on the right and Shuichi... dead centre. Needless to say, it was hard to sleep for him.

"How am I supposed to sleep in a situation like this?" He thought, his eyes wide open and his heart pounding a mile a minute.

"Hey Shuichi..." Himiko suddenly spoke up.

"Y-yes?!" Shuichi says, surprised that Himiko hasn't gone to sleep yet.

"There's something I have to say."

"Wh-what is it?"

"I-I'm scared."

A sound is then heard throughout the dark room. The sound of silence.

"Scared of what?" He says, steeling his nerves.

"Going to sleep." Himiko says with a shaky voice.

Another silence is then heard, all of the friends not facing each other in bed.

"Why are you scared?" Shuichi asks, staring at the ceiling above him, already knowing the answer that Himiko was going to give but feels that it's better if Himiko lets it out for herself.

"I-." She stutters, clutching the sheets tightly with her right hand.

"I'm scared of the nightmares. So many terrible things happened to us and I'm so scared to close my eyes. When I slept in the car I dreamt of Tenko and it was a good dream, she told me to be strong but... how, how can I?" She says, trying to hold back the tears in her eyes.

"Himiko..." Shuichi empathises, knowing Himiko's pained expression without even glancing at her face.

"What if this time... I dream of something that I don't want to imagine? I've had those dreams before and I try to shake it off but in this kind of situation... how can I?" Himiko tells him.

Shuichi attempts to think of something that will soothe Himiko's heart but then, Maki spoke up.

"She's right."

"Huh? Maki?" Shuichi says, surprised that Maki was still awake. But more taken aback by her approval.

"We pretend that we don't care and act like everything's alright but we know deep down that's not true." Maki tells them.

"That's..."

"You know, I haven't slept or taken a rest after escaping that horrible place. I'm so tired of everything... but I don't want to close my eyes. I'm so scared that I might see Kaito again, even if everything is just fiction, how am I supposed to handle all of this?" Maki explains, a teardrop falling from her cheek, twisting the sheets in her hand.

Shuichi then takes a deep breath and lets it all out, just like Maki and Himiko did.

"I'm scared too."

Maki and Himiko then feel a tinge of shock, not expecting Shuichi to say that.

"You girls are right, every one of us pretend to act like nothing's wrong because... a part of us, doesn't want to face that fear." Shuichi tells them, from the bottom of his heart.

"And I know that I shouldn't but, a part of me still blames myself for Kaede's death." Shuichi tells them.

Maki and Himiko are then about to jump in and defend Shuichi by saying that it wasn't his fault. But then...

"I know, I know, I shouldn't blame myself. But how can I? I... I'm terrified, just like you girls. I'm just as afraid if not even more. I really... really want all of this to be one long nightmare then I wake up... and Kaede, Kaito, Tenko and everyone are still smiling with us. But that's never going to happen. Even if we want to accept it or not, they're gone and we're still alive. And nothing's going to change that, no matter how we feel." Shuichi tells them, tears gathering in his eyes as well.

The three of them, let their tears fall and hearts open up. Finally crumbling from everything they've been through.

"I try... so hard to be strong. Not because I want to, but because I have to. I can't show that I'm terrified on the inside cause... I'm supposed to be the big brother in this group right? Though I guess I'm failing at this moment huh?" Shuichi says with a stifled chuckle.

"Th-that's not true..." Himiko says, trying to ease Shuichi's pain.

"Yeah, you're failing pretty hard right now." Maki then bluntly says.

Shuichi and Himiko turn their eyes towards Maki, surprised by her sudden input.

"What kind of brother starts crying right in front of his sisters? What a joke." Maki says in a demeaning manner.

"I-."

"All of us... are weak. We don't know how to deal with a situation like this. I mean, who could? I don't think anyone else have gone through the things and nightmares we've been in." Maki tells them.

Silence once again....

"I guess that makes us one of a kind huh?" Shuichi says, smiling weakly.

They all then chuckle in response to Shuichi's out of place remark.

"I think... it'll be fine." Shuichi spoke up.

The two girls then turn their bodies towards Shuichi, a little taken aback by his statement.

"We know that we're weak but it's a good thing that we acknowledge it. It's never wrong to admit when you're weak." He tells them.

They stay silent, wanting to hear what Shuichi has to say.

"I mean, who can say that they've been in a situation like ours? I don't think there's a right way to treat us. We're broken... in more ways than one. So, let's do our best from now on to fix ourselves, alright?" Shuichi says with a soft smile.

"But... can we? After everything Team Danganronpa did to us, we're not even ourselves anymore. We're just... something they made." Himiko solemnly tells him.

"Then.." Shuichi says before sitting upright. Maki and Himiko following suit.

"Let's change ourselves. We don't have to be what Team Danganronpa wants us to be." Shuichi tells them.

"You're saying, make new identities for us?" Himiko asks.

"Yeah. A new version of us, a way to reject what Team Danganronpa did to us."

"That... doesn't sound like the worst idea." Maki responds.

"But what are we supposed to do?" Himiko asks.

"Well, let's introduce ourselves." Shuichi suggests.

"Huh, but we already did that?" Himiko says in a daze.

"Well, that was us then, not us now. So let's try it again, shall we?" Shuichi tells them.

The three of them form a circle on the bed, eager to reintroduce themselves. Maki turns on the lamp on the nightstand, illuminating the room by a little, but enough to see their faces.

"So, how do we start this?" Himiko asks.

"Well, um... let me start first." Shuichi tells them.

He readies himself with a nervous cough and goes with the moment.

"Hello you two, my name is Shuichi Saihara. I'm just an average high school- um, well I guess not anymore, you could say that I don't really have something to call myself. I like solving mysteries but I'm really no one particularly special. I ended Danganronpa for the better and I hope that you two will take care of me in the future!"

Shuichi ends his introduction in a seated bow. The two girls looked slightly dumbfounded by Shuichi's speech and sudden bow. They look at each other and shared a heartfelt chuckle. Then Himiko introduced herself in a fidgety manner.

"H-hello everyone, my name is Hi-Himiko Yumeno. And I'm... well, just like Shuichi. There may be times where I rant on about magic and spells so I hope you can bear with me. I hope that I won't be a burden to you two and you two will take care of me too!"

She finishes her introduction, resulting in chuckles yet again. This time from Maki and Shuichi.

"Wh-what? Did I mess up or something? W-why're you guys laughing?!" Himiko spouts, obviously flustered by them.

"Don't worry Himiko, your introduction was great." Shuichi assures her with a smile.

The two of them then look at Maki. It's now Maki's turn to introduce herself. She composes herself.

"Maki Harukawa. Nice to meet all of you, I hope all of you will take care of me and I'll do my best to take care of you."

.......

"...Th-that's it?" Shuichi says, dumbfounded by her very brief introduction.

"That was way too short for an introduction!" Himiko told her in a resounding fashion.

"What else can I say? The both of you already said what I wanted to say." She said in a blunt way.

All of them then let out a heartfelt chuckle. The three of them do share the same story after all. Their anxiety then melted away as they talked and talked into the night. With a yawn, they all laid on the bed once more, drifting away to a slumber that they desperately needed. Their sleeping faces, no longer reflecting the horrors that they've been through all this time.

However, what they didn't know was that a devious scheme was being made during their deep slumber...

**_On the mountain that Shuichi, Maki and Himiko previously escaped from..._ **

"Shuichi, Maki, Himiko, you three have just begun your journey. I look forward to see how the three of you will develop in the future. With this... the prologue ends." The unknown individual says as he stares intently at the Danganronpa Production Studio, holding a peculiar looking button in his hand. He then looks and walks away, having no more lingering feelings.

He presses the button.

**_*BOOM!!!*_ **

An eruption of fire decimated the enormous building in one fell swoop. The explosives planted by the individual worked wonders. The blast was so strong that an avalanche occurred, blocking the pathway to the mountain from down below. The snow piled up and seemed to be never ending. And as for the man, he was no where to be seen...

_Next morning..._

It is now 11:36 a.m. An optimal time to be awake and about. But of course, Shuichi, Maki and Himiko, having been through a long day, are still understandably slumbering. Shuichi is the first to peel his eyes open. He wonders if all that happened was just a dream and as he saw where he was and Maki and Himiko beside him. That reaffirmed him that he is now in fact in reality. His vision still blurry from the sleep.

"Oh, you're awake."

As he hears a woman's voice in front of him, his eyes jolted open and so did his body. Maki then did the same. Waking from her slumber as her instincts kicked in. There he saw a purpled haired woman, dressed in dark winter clothes and wearing black gloves, carrying a tray of what seems to be freshly brewed coffee from a café standing at the doorway of the bedroom.

"How did you get in here?" Maki said, keeping her guard up.

"I had the spare keys." She says as she pats her jacket pocket.

"I came by earlier but you were all asleep so I thought I would treat you to some caffeine to help boost your senses." The woman said in a somewhat monotone voice.

Shuichi then put the pieces together. It wasn't really that hard to figure it out in the first place.

"Kyoko... Kirigiri..." He uttered from his mouth.

Kyoko then simply smiled at Shuichi's response. She invites all of them to sit at the table in the living room so she can discuss some important details with them.

"Also, when I first saw you guys sleeping together, I didn't expect the three of you to have THAT kind of relationship." Kyoko says as she leaves the room, attempting her own take on a 'joke'.

This however backfired, making Shuichi and Maki blush crimson red as they have just realized what they had just done. Himiko however, was drooling buckets. Still snoozing about.

After waking Himiko up, which took a surprising amount of effort to do, they all sat at the table. A cup of freshly brewed coffee at each of their sides. Kyoko began the conversation.

"Since I doubt you guys would want me to hear me rambling me on about how sorry I am during your current situation, I'm gonna cut right to the chase here." Kyoko said in a professional tone.

"What did she want to talk about?" Shuichi thought in his head.

"The Danganronpa Production Studio... has been destroyed." She said in an ominous tone.

"D-destroyed?!" Himiko exclaims, jolting out of her dozy state.

"How did it happen?" Shuichi calmly asked, a little ruffled by the statement.

"An explosion..."

________

**7:02 a.m.**

The two helicopters landed at the site which still breathed smoke. Two particular figures stepped out of the helicopter, breathing the cold air of the chilly mountain. One of them, readjusting his glasses as he shakes his head in disapproval as to what had just transpired here. The identity of the two, of course being Byakuya Togami and Kyoko Kirigiri.

"Tsk, how annoying. We finally had a break in the case and _this_ happened. Not only that but it's genuinely freezing out here despite us being so close to an explosion site." Byakuya said putting his gloved hands in the pockets of his high-priced winter trench coat.

"At least you're not Makoto. He's down there with the rest of the crew, trying to get rid of the snow at the mountain entryway." Kyoko said with a smirk.

Makoto and his crew didn't even know that an avalanche happened so, they're stuck down there unfortunately.

"Heh, I sometimes question that guy's Ultimate Luck. Now, let's get to investigating." Byakuya said, sounding determined.

The two of them split up and searched the site for clues. There was a total of 11 people investigating. Two of them being Byakuya and Kyoko, five of them being from the Togami Corporation and four of them being from Kyoko's investigation company. They searched the area thoroughly, not finding much of anything. Byakuya scans the area for anything that doesn't seem broken but the explosion seemed to do its job perfectly.

"Tch, useless junk." He says as he throws what seems to be a broken tablet to the ground.

As for Kyoko, she was inspecting the area pretty thoroughly. Not letting anything leave her eyes. She knelt down as she noticed something peculiar on the ground. A dented safe, engraved on the ground, hidden under dust and rubble. She moved the rubble out of the way and find the damaged safe and to her luck and surprise, the safe opened. While she noticed odd details about the safe, she ignored them for now and reached for the contents of the safe to find...

"Byakuya! Get over here!" She shouted at him, signalling him over.

Byakuya, surprised by her outburst, goes over to her.

"What is that supposed to be?" Byakuya questioned, looking at the strange object in Kyoko's hand.

"I'm still not sure, it was in this safe." She said as she points to the safe.

"Good thing the rubble got that safe open for us. Certainly makes our jobs easier." Byakuya said in a snarky attitude as he notices the obvious dents in the safe.

"It wasn't the rubble that opened it. Someone wanted us to find this." Kyoko suddenly declared.

"Excuse me?" Byakuya asks, arms crossed and confused by her statement.

She then points to the edges of the safe, revealing scratches and unusual dents.

"Rubble can't make a dent like this. Someone pried open the safe prior to our arrival. They also probably purposely damaged the safe beforehand so we wouldn't know that it was opened." She said as she points to the damages on the safe.

"See here? They look too perfectly shaped to be made by falling debris. Looks more like the work of a sledgehammer to me." Kyoko announced.

"Are you telling me... they stole the contents of the safe just before destroying the studio?" Byakuya asks her.

"No, I highly doubt that. First of all, why would they leave something so important as this behind? I bet my life on it that this... thing was the only in the safe to begin with. Secondly, this thing was still perfectly placed dead centre in the safe. If someone was ransacking a safe, they wouldn't be so neat about it. This thing should've been all over the place but it was left untouched." She cleverly deduced.

"So that must mean, there was nothing else in the safe besides the item that you're holding, right?" Byakuya finished.

"Exactly."

The two of them ponder at the true nature of what could be the true nature of the item that Kyoko was currently holding.

"But why would they want us to find it? Why decimate the studio?" Byakuya asked her.

"I'm... not sure yet." Kyoko said. Surprising Byakuya.

"Tsk, must've been an employee of Team Danganronpa. They wanted to destroy any traces of evidence and hide the identities of the participants. Bastards." Byakuya said with an irritated face with an equally irritated tone.

"I'm not sure if it was an employee that did all of this... would any of them have the ability to pull off something like this? And plus, why would they want us to find this?" Kyoko thought in her head.

***Ring! Ring!***

Suddenly, Kyoko's cellphone rang. A tad bit surprised by the caller, she picks it up.

"Surprising that you're calling, Makoto." Kyoko says, phone to her ear.

"Ah, sorry about that. It's just that I found something while I was walking around the base of the mountain. It looks like it's important." Makoto tells her.

"What is it?"

"A USB. I just stumbled upon it in the snow. Crazy right? You think it's important?"

Kyoko chuckled at his statement.

"I bet you it is. Hold on, I'll be right down there." She says as she hangs up the phone.

"What did he say?" Byakuya asks.

Kyoko explains Makoto's finding.

"Haha, so it was his luck after all huh? I can never predict that guy sometimes." He says with a cheeky smirk.

"That's my husband for you. I'll leave the rest of the investigating to you and your team."

She bids Byakuya farewell and gets on the helicopter, taking her down to see Makoto.

________

Kyoko finishes the story which leaves Shuichi and the rest feeling confused.

"So what was in the safe?" Himiko asked with curiosity.

After hearing the question, she reaches into her bag that was set on the floor and takes out a steel rectangular box, slightly bigger than her hand and sets it on the table.

"This. This was what I found in the safe." She says, tapping the box.

After a moment of hesitation, waiting for Kyoko to open the box and reveal its contents. She didn't.

"Well, what's inside it?" Maki tells her, growing impatient.

"Do you still not understand? It's-."

"It's the box itself isn't it? You can't open the box can you?" Shuichi cuts off Kyoko, stating his mind.

Kyoko then chuckles at Shuichi's statement.

"You're absolutely right Shuichi. Your detective's intuition serves you well." She says, feeling proud of him.

Shuichi then shows his flustered face after hearing Kyoko's remark.

"So what? You can't open it or something?" Himiko asked.

"Correct. This... Pandora's Box as you may call it, can't be opened by normal means." Kyoko stated.

Pandora's Box. A box bestowed upon by the gods. Something that should never have been opened. Said to have held all the creations of evil. But due to the curiosity of a mortal, hell was unleashed unto the world.

"So, it can't be opened?" Maki asked.

"I didn't say that." She says as she takes out some kind of light pointer from her pocket.

She turns the pointer on, revealing the hidden writings on the box. The pointer she used was an Ultraviolet pointer. The words on the box were the following:

 **_Solve the riddle I have prepared to know the hidden contents of the box. If you try to forcibly break open the box, it will destroy what is hidden inside via self detonation._ ** **_ Be warned for what is inside the box may not what be desired for the world but may be the necessary step for the future. Do as you will with the contents. I wish you the best of luck. _ **

"Riddle? What riddle?" Himiko asked, staring at the box.

"The one in here." Kyoko says as she holds a peculiar-looking USB drive in her hand. A line in the middle was dividing the two colours of the USB, black and white.

Kyoko proceeds to take a laptop out from her bag that she brought and plugs in the USB. With a few clicks, she turns the screen towards them, a black screen with purple text appears in front of them. It was the riddle issued by the mysterious individual who prepared it just for the purpose of opening a box. However, the riddle itself was... unorthodox. It was read as followed:

_________

 **_A genius inventor vowed to create the create the perfect android, an android completely in tune with humanity. He judges if his creation is a success based on the android's first words. After many trials and errors, he finally succeeds in making his creation. All because of the words spoken from the android._ ** **_ What were the first words spoken by the android that made the inventor deem it a complete success? _ **

**Answer:**  
**__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ **

**___________ **

"What kind of a riddle is this? 16 spaces?" Shuichi thought as the gears started turning in his head.

"That's not the only confusing part." Kyoko adds, noticing Shuichi's reaction to the riddle.

Kyoko points to the first space of the answer and presses the down button on her laptop. The 'A' letter then switches to a 'B'.

"You don't type the answer, you scroll through the options."

And the options from scrolling are:

_A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 _ # % + = ( ) - / \ : ? ! ' , ._

_And the odd detail is that one of the things that you can fill in the blank can be a blank space. Which means..._

"The answer might not even be 16 spaces long." Kyoko tells them.

"What?" The three of them say in unison.

"Here let me show you." Kyoko tells as she clicks on her computer.

 **Answer:**  
A **__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ **

**Is This Your Answer?**  
**> Yes No**

"What? Your answer can be as simple as one letter? You don't have to fill out every space?" Shuichi thought in his head.

"Can you see why this is a problem? Not only do we have a near infinite amount of possibilities, this question on its own is confusing." Kyoko mentions, scratching her head.

"Why did you show this to us?" Maki questions her, suspicious of her intentions.

"I thought you would have an answer. Some kind of clue to this riddle. I just needed to be sure." She answers.

"Well, we don't." Maki sternly tells her.

"I see, I guess I was wrong."

After what Kyoko said, Shuichi opens his mouth to speak his mind.

"....Should we even open it?"

"Huh? What're you talking about Shuichi?" Himiko asks.

"I mean, who knows what's inside the box. What if it's something completely horrible?" Shuichi gave his opinion.

A solemn silence is held before a chuckle from Kyoko breaks it.

"*chuckle*, that doesn't seem like a bad idea Shuichi. I was thinking the same. I don't think there's any need to open this right away. There would be no change if we wait for now." Kyoko tells them.

"I-Is that so?" Himiko says in an awkward tone.

"The thing is... I think I have an idea of what the answer is. But I'm afraid to type it in, not because I'm afraid it's wrong, but because I think it's right." Kyoko earnestly tells them.

"Also, before I forget, did you find anything in the studio that would clue us in in this whole situation on who you or your friends are?" Kyoko asked.

Shuichi then remembered the tablet they found in the studio with the encrypted information that they couldn't access. He proceeds to take out the tablet from his satchel and hands it over to her. She boots up the tablet to see what's in store for her.

"..Interesting. I'll be sure to look further into this in the future." She assured them.

Kyoko then begins to pack up her things and is bids them farewell for now but before she did, she had something to give them.

"Here you go, and also don't tell anyone what we discussed here. It will be our little secret." She says as she slides a card over to them.

It was the numbers of three people. Makoto Naegi, Byakuya Togami and Kyoko Kirigiri. All imprinted on the card.

"If you need anything, don't hesitate to contact any of us. We're here to support you." She says as she walks towards the door.

"Oh, and Shuichi. If.. you're interested in going back to detective work, give me a call. It's your choice though, I won't force you to do anything you don't want." She tells directly to Shuichi before telling them all to take care of themselves and exiting through the door.

Shuichi was then a little stunned by Kyoko's remark and contemplates on what she said.

"Are you gonna accept her offer?" Maki asks him.

After a moment of nothing from Shuichi, he decides on his choice.

"I won't accept it. We agreed to change ourselves right? By rejecting our talents, we'll reject what Team Danganronpa expected from us. That's what we agreed on."

"Heh, alright then." Maki says with a smirk.

"Hey Shuichi, did you know the answer to that riddle?" Himiko suddenly asks, curious on his thoughts.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I think I know what the answer is, though I don't know if it's right though." Shuichi says grinning awkwardly as he scratches his chin.

"Oh, alright then. I'm hungry, what do we have to eat?" Himiko says, quickly changing the subject.

"There's rice and curry. I think I can whip something with what we have." Maki says as she ties her hair with her scrunchy and heads to the minuscule kitchen.

"Wait, aren't you guys curious on what the answer is?" Shuichi asks due to the abrupt change in topic.

"Not in the slightest." Maki quickly retorts.

"It's not fun to have the answer just told to you, Shuichi! I'll figure it out by myself and I bet my answer'll be correct while yours is wrong then I'll be the smartest between all of us!" Himiko proudly boasts with her head held high.

Shuichi then thought to himself, did they just not want to know the answer, knowing that they think his answer is right? Shuichi then shrugs it off and proceeds to help Maki with making the katsu. Himiko also attempted to help but somehow managed to break a lot of the eggs to add to their curry. Mind you, none of them managed to even survive to make it to the frying pan. Maki on the other hand, was quite skilled at cooking, especially when she was cutting the greens. With such swiftness and precision, you'd be scared that she'd mince her fingers by mistakes. By then I guess it would be called, 'reds'. Shuichi took over with the eggs, and was much better at handling them than a certain someone. They held a peaceful lunch, finally tasting the food of this reality. It wasn't as good as a certain maid's cooking but it certainly tasted good nonetheless. And let's just say, it satisfied them just fine. All they could hope that moments like these will last forever.

_______

Over the course of the next few days, they have adapted well to the reality they've been thrusted into. While they were cautious on the first few days, they've gotten better at going outside and being discreet. Doing their best to not be noticed by the public. Shuichi even asked Maki to teach him some of her self defence techniques as a just in case if something happens. Though, Maki did start off a little... harsh.

"Owww!!" Shuichi cries in pain as he slumps on the ground after Maki twisted his arm and tripped him.

"Bwahahahah!" Himiko laughed out loud as she saw Shuichi's pathetic state.

"You're not going to get any tougher if you just lay there Shuichi." Maki says bluntly as she cracks her knuckles.

"Come on Shuichi, is that all you've got? You can do better than that!" Himiko states in a condescending manner.

"I'd like to see you try it out..." Shuichi thinks in his head as he slowly gets up from the cold floor as the snow descends on him.

They were practicing on the roof of their apartment. It has plenty of space for them to do their training. And as Shuichi continued to be pummelled by Maki, he was reminded of another time where he got thrown to the ground by a martial artist. As the days went by, they experienced more and more of the reality, even beginning to enjoy parts of it. They took turns in cooking and doing the chores, despite Himiko... not really being the best at the two, but she's learning! Maki was the best at cooking, obviously. Himiko really liked this magical girl anime that aired on TV. They even played video games with the gaming console that was plugged in the television. Maki, surprisingly sucked at fighting games despite... y'know. Shuichi was the best because he memorises the combos for the fighters with Himiko being a close second. They sometimes watched movies at night, and as it turns out, horror movies are not Himiko's thing.

"Gyaaahh!!" Himiko screams out as a jump scare frightened her so much that she almost peed her pants.

"It's just a jump scare, it was the noise that surprised you." Maki said, completely unfazed by what just happened.

"But... it scared me." Himiko says, hiding her face under a pillow.

"Getting surprised and getting scared are two different things, Himiko." Shuichi said, while not scared got pretty anxious at the tense part of the movie.

Their days continued on like this, they even grew accustomed at sleeping in the bed together. Which is... odd? To say the least. They occasionally get calls from Makoto and Kyoko, wanting to know their conditions to which they reply that they're fine. The days went by without them even noticing...

**_27 days later..._ **

It was nighttime and Maki had just finished cutting Shuichi's hair which grew a bit too long for his taste.

"Thanks Maki, it looks great." Shuichi says as he inspects himself in the mirror, seeing his usual looks once more.

"No problem, glad you liked it." Maki says with a slight smile.

Maki then feels up her hair, seeing that it's grown a little too long.

"You think I should cut my hair short?" Maki suddenly asks Shuichi.

"E-eh? Wh-what did you say?" Shuichi confusedly asked, surprised by her sudden question.

"I thought my hair was getting too long. It would also be easier if I had short hair. What? Do you think it's no good?"

"N-no, of course not!... I honestly think that the short hair would suit you..." Shuichi says, scratching his cheek while blushing a light pink.

"Heh, is that so? Maybe I'll try it out later." She says with a grin on her face.

After Shuichi's haircut, Maki went to the kitchen to prepare dinner. Only to be surprised by a lack of a key ingredient.

"Hey Shuichi, we're out of rice." Maki states.

"Oh, is that so?" Shuichi says as he finishes drying his hair from the bath he took after the haircut.

"Looks like we'll have to go out then!" Himiko who was watching television, excitedly jolts up of the couch, enthusiastic to go outside once again.

" _*chuckle*_ I guess so." Shuichi tells them.

"I wanted to buy some stuff for cooking anyway." Maki tells them.

"I wanna buy something for myself this time!" Himiko says enthusiastically aloud, thinking of the various junk foods that she wants to buy. Candy, chips, cookies, anything that isn't nutritious. She also wants to see if the manga she bought a week ago had its new volume out.

They put on their usual clothes when they go out. Putting their hoods up as always.

"Remember, don't be recognised." Maki says the sentence that she always says before they go out.

This wasn't the first time they went out to buy supplies for their daily lives. They've gone out multiple times already. A few times for daily necessities, sometimes just to explore the town, they even went to the pharmacy once because Himiko had a slight fever. They tried their best to ensure that they weren't recognised and no one's called out to their identities so far. They went to the local grocery store that is about a 5 minute walk from their apartment. Himiko hurriedly went in and grabbed whatever she wanted. They did have ¥300,000 to spare after all. They split up to get the things they needed. Shuichi went to get more curry as they were also running out of that.

"Should I choose spicy to change things up a little? Himiko might not be able to handle it though..." Shuichi says to himself, looking at the spicy curry.

"M-mister, mister! Please, I need your help!" A girl's voice suddenly shrieked as she approached him with a worried face.

"H-huh? Wh-what's wrong?" Shuichi says, pulling the hood down even further as so the girl didn't see his face.

"M-my brother got stabbed trying to protect me from a robber in the alley beside the store. Please, he needs help!" The girl who seemed to be the same as him said with tears in her eyes.

Shuichi being the person he is, couldn't just ignore someone's cry for help. Even if it risked his identity.

"Lead the way." Shuichi said, not facing her direction.

"Thank you so much! This way!" The girl said as she ran to the store's entrance with Shuichi following suit.

As Maki was browsing on her way to the produce section of the store to buy eggs and vegetables, she noticed Shuichi and the girl at the corner of her eye, heading towards the entrance.

"Shuichi?"

_________

"Did you call the ambulance?" Shuichi asked the girl as they exited the store.

"Huh? Oh, y-yeah! They said they'd be here but I just can't wait for them." She says awkwardly ad they head to the alley.

"Why did she say that weirdly?" Shuichi thought in his head.

"Over here!" She says as she rushes inside the alley.

Shuichi follows her inside and is met with a dead end and no one else there besides the girl. Certainly no one there in need of help. The girl's face then turned awfully nonchalant. Shuichi then realised something.

"If her brother was stabbed in the alley, why would she go through the trouble of going into the store to find someone to help even though she could've just exited the alley and called for help from any passerby on the street?" He thinks in his head. But that was not the end of it.

"There were three people standing near the entrance of the alleyway. I thought nothing of them but now..."

Shuichi turns his body to the back, finally realising that...

"This was nothing more than a tra-!" Shuichi's thought was cut off by a strike to his stomach.

"Grk!" He groaned as his body went down to all fours.

"Hard to believe you were the Ultimate Detective. Nice going sis, you led him straight to us." The man who punched Shuichi says with a condescending look.

"It was no problem at allll! My acting skills worked great on an idiot like him. Maybe I should be the Ultimate Actress!" The girl annoyingly said as she went to the side of the three men.

"I can't believe I fell for their trick." Shuichi thinks as he regrets not realising it sooner.

"I noticed you a few days ago in the store, I bet you thought you hid yourself pretty well. But I managed to see through your shit disguise." The man says to him.

"I've been planning this for a while now. Just waiting for you to come back to the store and here you are! I think you deserve some appropriate punishment for what you did to Danganronpa."

"I guess not everyone in this town is not a fan of Danganronpa like Makoto said. No, that's not what I should be thinking about right now. I don't think reasoning with these people will work, I have to remember the training I had with Maki..." He thinks to himself as he takes a deep breath.

"Look at you. On the ground, where you belo-grgh?!" The man's monologue was cut short by Shuichi, jolting straight up and punching him right in the nose, causing him to fall to his back.

"Y-you little-!" The man's other lackey yells out as he throws a jab to Shuichi which he barely dodges.

Shuichi proceeds to counterattack with a quick left hook that connected to the guy's face. The third one tried to land a hit but Shuichi managed to block it with his arms and proceeded to trip him by getting close, putting his foot behind his and pushing him. The girl's face then grew fearful as she watched her acquaintances fall to the ground and Shuichi locked eyes with her.

"Hyah! Please don't hurt me!" She shrieked in terror.

"I-I don't want to hurt you guys anymore. Can we pleases just talk this through?" Shuichi pleaded with them.

The leader, as he was trying to get up, noticed that there was an empty glass bottle beside him.

"I understand that you're mad but can I please just-."

***Smash!***

His sentence was cut short as the shards of glass fly across his face as a result of the bottle shattering when it struck his face. The pain during that moment, was unbearable. His vision became hazy and his body crumpled to the ground. The man who struck him looks over to Shuichi and notices that his nose was bleeding from the punch that Shuichi landed earlier, further enraging him.

"You piece of shit!" He says as he kicks Shuichi right in the stomach.

His other lackeys then proceeded to get up and joined their boss, taking their anger out on Shuichi, kicking his crumpled body all over.

"You think you're better than us?!"

"You're nothing more than a character made for our entertainment!"

"You don't belong here! No one in this world gives a rat's ass about you!"

The words made by the three of them, scathed Shuichi's heart. His face and body getting bruised all over. His nose bleeding, his mouth drooling blood.

"You think you can ruin Danganronpa for everyone and live a happy fucking life?!"

"Your talent was nothing more than something the producers wrote in to give your worthless existence some meaning!"

"Why don't you just go fucking die in a hole already?!"

They all then stopped their kickings and the leader placed his foot on Shuichi's face. Purple bruises all over his face and body. Shuichi's eyes, beginning to tear up.

"Aww, look at him, he's gonna cry like a little baby." The leader said with a sadistic smile.

"Ahahaha! What a freaking loser, I can't believe that someone as pathetic as him survived Danganronpa." The girl said, smiling intently at Shuichi's torment.

"You think that someone like you has a place in our world? You're just a puppet of society that gets thrown away the second we don't need you anymore. What a waste of an existence." The leader says as he spits on Shuichi's face.

As all hope was lost and Shuichi had given up...

"What... are you doing to him?" A voice familiar to Shuichi says behind them.

The leader takes his foot off of Shuichi and looks to the figure.

"Huh? Who the hell are you?" The leader says to the girl in red.

Everyone else then recognises her face and shivered in fear.

"B-boss, th-that's M-Maki Harukawa, the assassin." One of his lackeys whispered fearfully to his ear.

"Oh it's you. Looks like you didn't abandon this sorry excuse for a human after all. Well, not like I would blame you if you did." He says, shrugging his hands and acting like his usual self, seemingly unfazed by Maki's presence.

"Get... away from him." Maki says as something dangerous boils inside her.

"Haah?! What exactly are you gonna do if I don't Little Miss Fake Assassin?"

"Maki... no..." Shucihi weakly calls out to her with the last of his strength.

"See? Listen to your little friend here. You shouldn't care for a worthless piece of trash like him."

Maki then snapped and took out the pistol that was given to them in the apartment that she kept with her at all times every time they went out. She took aim at them, her eyes, fuelled with bloodlust.

"Get. Away. From. Him... Now"

Everyone but the leader then showed absolute fear over her presence. Her aura alone would be enough to bring them to their knees. Their hearts were shivering.

"Calm down guys. That's not even a real gun. And plus even if it was real, someone with a fake talent like her wouldn't have the guts to-."

***BANG!!***

The shot was heard across the street, making people go into a frenzy and run about. As for the bullet, it grazed the leader's left ear as it flew to the wall behind them. She didn't miss, that was exactly what she wanted to do. The leader, fell on his behind in pure shock and fear. Liquid started to ooze from his legs, soaking his pants. In other words, he pissed himself.

"Do you want to die?"

"Hi-hi-hiiiaahhh!!!" The group then all ran past her, fleeing from the scene. Scared shitless.

Maki ran to Shuichi's aid. Desperate to help him to his feet.

"Shuichi!" She cries out as she shakes Shuichi's aching body. Placing his head on her lap.

"Ma...ki.." He manages to say as his consciousness was fading away.

"Please hang in there!"

"Maki! What happened, I heard a gunshot and-eh?" Himiko ran to the alley, surprised by the gunshot, only to find a horrible sight waiting for her at the end.

"Hi... miko..."

"Sh-Shuichi? You've.. got to be kidding me. Why... did this have to happen?" Himiko says as her face becomes clouded in despair.

"Himiko, call the ambulance now!" Maki yells out to her.

"Eh? Y-yeah, I'll do that." She says as she slowly takes out the smartphone they received in the apartment from her pocket. Tears running down her face.

"N-no, don't... your identities... will.. be found out..." Shuichi lets his weak voice out, attempting to protect his friends.

"You think we care about that?! As long as you're okay, I don't care what happens to me. I just..." She doesn't manage to finish her sentence as tears run down her face, dropping onto Shuichi's.

"Don't...worry...about me. I'll be...just...fine.." He says as he closes his eyes. No longer able to keep himself awake any longer.

"Shuichi? Hey Shuichi? Shuichi!!" Maki yells out, trying to wake Shuichi up but to no avail.

"I'll... I'll call the ambulance now!" Himiko hurriedly turns on the phone, about to type in 119, the number for emergency services.

Suddenly, Maki is reminded of a distant memory of Kyoko.

"If you need anything, don't hesitate to contact any of us. We're here to support you."

"Himiko, wait!" She calls out to her before she could make the call.

"E-eh, why?"

"Call Kyoko and the others instead. You remember their numbers?"

"Huh? O-oh yeah!" Himiko says as she dials the numbers.

"Just hang in there Shuichi!" They both think in their heads as the snowfall covers their heads. Hoping, praying that their friend will be alright.

_________

"Hey Shuichi... wake up." A familiar voice, a sweet one calls out to him.

"Ka..ede?" He says to see himself alright. In a dark space, with no one else but him and Kaede.

"You’re finally awake sleepyhead." She says with her usual radiant smile. Calming Shuichi down.

"How... is this possible?" Shuichi says to her, his eyes tearing up.

"Hmm? Who knows? Maybe you wished me here." She says, flashing a grin.

"Kaede... I'm so sorry.. I caused your death. I... couldn't save you." He says, his heart torn up inside.

"Oh yeah, you totally did."

"H-huh?"

"Hey Shuichi! How you doing?" A familiar voice calls out to him as that person pats his back.

"K-Kaito?"

"Seems that you're doing well for yourself. Considering you killed me and all." He says as blood slowly spurts out from his mouth.

"Wh-what?"

"How can you live your life knowing that you killed us Shuichi?" Kaede says with a smile as her head starts to bleed, covering her face with red.

"I-I'm so sorry. I.. wanted to save all of you but... I couldn't."

"You think saying sorry will bring us back and make up for what you've done?" Kaito tells him, his mouth practically bleeding red.

"You know Shuichi, he'll say anything to make himself feel better. Even when he knows it's a lie." The voice of Kokichi, creeps up behind him.

Shuichi looks back to see Kokichi, slowly turning into paste. His whole body, covered in blood as he shrivels into nothing but a puddle. He turns to the front, not wanting to witness the horrific sight any longer, only to see Kaede, hanged from her neck while her body bled from all places. He looks around and sees everyone of his deceased friends, dying once again. Gonta, sat on fire, Tenko, lying motionless on the ground as her neck bleeds, Ryoma, who had nothing but bones left. Shuichi did nothing but grovel on the ground, crying and apologising to each and every single one of them. All of the pain he suffered in the Killing Game, resurfaced again.

"Why did you have to survive Shuichi?" Kaede's voice rings out in his ear.

He couldn't say anything. After all, he couldn't save them.

"How pathetic." A disdainful voice calls out to him.

He looks up to see that it was no one else but...

"Tsumugi?"

"Look at you. Didn't I tell you that it would've been better if you just stayed in the school?"

Tsumugi's appearance and voice altered from her to Junko's from one second to another.

"I think it's about time, for your long overdue punishment time, don't you think?" Junko/Tsumugi says as she wraps her hands around Shuichi's neck. Shuichi, not fighting back and letting her slowly choke the life out of him.

"I should just... die..."

_______

"Uwaah!" Shuichi jolts up from his nightmare, only to be met by the pain of his aching body.

"Where... am I?" He says to himself as he finds himself in some kind of hospital room.

He sees that his body was wrapped with bandages. So were parts of his face, there was also a bandage wrapped around his head, just above his eyes. He must've been unconscious for a whole day. He slowly and surely gets up from bis bed, using the IV drip stand as a crutch as he makes his way to the balcony of the room. Slowly opening the sliding door and going outside. The snow, dancing around his body. The night sky shining upon his misfortunate soul. He looks down the balcony to see that he was pretty high up. The fall would definitely kill him.

"Maybe... I should just.. end it all right here." He thinks in his head, actually considering the possibility.

"How boring." A voice suddenly is heard from his right side.

"H-huh?!" He says as he almost falls, catching himself before he does when he was shocked by the unknown man's presence.

"Who.. are you?" He asks the man who seemed to be in his mid 30-s.

"You figure it out." He says, staying crossed arm as he breathed his cold breath. The mist escaping his mouth.

It took him quite a while to piece together who this mature looking brown haired man was. His most distinctive feature being that he has two different coloured eyes. His right, bright red almost as if it was shining in the night, and the other, green like an emerald gem. And it finally struck him. But... how is it even possible?

"Hajime... Hinata?" He says, not believing the words coming out of his own mouth.

"Took you long enough, some Ultimate Detective you are." He says as he walks past Shuichi and inside his room.

"Come on, let's get inside. It must be freezing for you." Hajime tells him.

Many questions were swirling around Shuichi's head as he slowly walked back in his room. Why does he look much younger than Naegi? How did he know Shuichi was here? Why is he here? How did he get here? He just had to ask them.

"How did you.. get here?" The words simply slipped out of his mouth.

"Hmm? I have my ways." He says as he sits down on a chair.

"And you're not going to tell me?" Shuichi thinks as he squints his face, weakly plopping himself on the bed.

"Why don't we move on to an even more important question? Why'd you think of killing yourself?" Hajime suddenly asks him.

"Huh? How'd you-?"

"I came here to see the one who finally ended the nightmare that was the Killing Game after so long and let me just say, I'm not impressed." He stated, not holding his words back.

"I-."

"Honestly, witnessing you out there was a joke." He says, scoffing at the thought.

Witnessing you? Does that mean...?

"You were watching us that night?" He asked.

"Oh, I've been watching the three of you longer than you expect. Of course, I did a good job of being discreet about it. Also had to call a favour from _him_ , nonetheless." He reveals to him.

"Him? Does he mean Makoto? Wait, if he was watching us then..." Shuichi thought in his head.

"Why didn't you stop the guys from beating me up in the alley?" He asked with a slight bit of frustration and anger shown in his face.

"Hmm? I just didn't want to give myself away. Don't worry, I knew that you're little assassin friend would come save you. She handled the situation perfectly if I do say so myself. I just wanted those guys to beat some sense into you is all." He explains calmly.

"Beat some sense..? What're you-?!"

"You've met Makoto haven't you? Can you tell me why you declined his offer?" He asks before Shuichi could angrily retort back.

Hajime knows why Shuichi declined it, but he wanted Shuichi to say it in front him. Reaffirming if he thinks that his talent should not be used.

"I... I don't think I should be using something that Team Danganronpa gave us. It's just... wrong. They tortured all of us and Makoto expects us to use something they gave to help this world." He explained solemnly to him.

"So you still think that way huh?" He says, a hint of disappointment coming from his words.

"Wh-what?"

"So you're doing this as a petty revenge scheme against Team Danganronpa? Pretty pathetic, isn't it?" He tells him, leaning his body forward from the chair.

"I..." He stuttered, at a loss of words.

"You've been given the power to change the world and yet you don't want to use it? Irresponsible, don't you think? Not to mention, boring." He tells him as he steps in front of Shuichi.

Shuichi couldn't say anything back. He just sat there, unable to fight back against Hajime's arguments.

"Look at me. Hope's Peak imbued me with all the talents in the world because I was sick of being a talentless nobody. I was created to spread hope throughout the world but instead, I brought despair and ruin. All because of _her._ " Hajime recounts his agonising past, trying to prove his point.

"I could never bring back all those people I killed back then. But now, I'm using my talents to make this world a better place. You don't see me being all pissy about it."

"But... how could I use this talent when... everyone apparently hates me for it." Shuichi tells him. Reminding himself of what happened in the alley.

" _*sigh*_ , Shuichi, their words shouldn't stop you from being a person that could help the world. Didn't you say in Danganronpa that you wanted to change the world? Are you going back on what you said? Doesn't that betray who you are?" Hajime says to him, crouching down to meet Shuichi's face.

"Who... I am?"

"A person that helps people in need. That's who you are, isn’t that right?"

"....."

Hajime could tell that Shuichi looked distraught on the matter so he stands back up and tells Shuichi something he doesn't know about.

"Look Shuichi, there's a lot in this world that you don't know about. Especially about me. Like the fact that I'm just a myth in the public's minds."

"Huh?"

"It's a funny story actually. They all thought that I was just some overdramatised character that the writers thought up in the story. Sooner rather than later, the public thought I was just a myth. A student roaming the world, having all the talents at his fingertips."

Shuichi couldn't help but feel sorry for Hajime. He was forgotten just like that.

"Well, at least the whole me being a myth thing helped me with concealing myself from the government so, that's a positive. I mean, how could they not try to pursue me after the declaration I made?" He says with a smirk, reminiscing of his past.

"So, the public forgot about you, the government's trying to hunt you down and the world hates people like us and yet, you still help those people?" Shuichi asks, wanting to know Hajime's response.

"Well, yeah. Because that's the right thing to do. I don't think people in this world are awful, they just need to be shown the truth. Something you already did, remember?" He says, turning his back to Shuichi.

"But, even so... no one in this world cares about me so why should I even-."

"Idiot."

"Eh?" Shuichi says, shocked by Hajime's interruption and insult.

"Look here." He says as he reaches for the door of the room, most probably leading to the hallway.

Hajime twists the doorknob slowly and as it opened, Shuichi saw the two people who mattered most to him right now, sleeping side by side on the chairs in front of room.

"Maki... Himiko." He says as he stares at his two friends, feeling something in his heart as he saw their faces.

"These two didn't leave the hospital at all since last night. They stood by your side as you were recovering. Your magician friend, Himiko, she casted a spell so you would be all healed up. Maki on the other hand, threatened one of the nurses who tried to kick them out of your room. Despite all that, you're saying that there's no one in this world who cares for you?" Hajime says as he closes the door.

"....."

"And it's not just them either, Makoto, Kyoko and even Byakuya, they all care for your well-being. They want to help you strive in this world. You can count on them in times of need. They're the ones who brought you here and kept your secrets hidden after all." He reassures him.

Shuichi's heart slowly changed as he listened to Hajime's lecture.

"So, you're saying, I should use my talent to change the world?" He asks.

"That's what I would like you to do. But in the end, it's your choice. It's up to you to choose the path that you will follow in this world." He says as he heads towards the balcony.

"It's up to me, huh?" He says as he steels his heart.

Hajime looks up to the moon as he is ready to leave Shuichi to his choice but before he could...

"I've decided!" He yells out, grabbing Hajime's attention.

"Hmm?"

"You're right. I shouldn't run away from who I am. I should use my talent to change this world and reveal the underlying truth of it. I will, turn this world into a better place! I will tell everyone in this world of who I am and that I am here to stay!” He declares.

"Tell me then, who are you?" He says as he locks eyes with Shuichi.

"I-." He stuttered as he looked inside his heart, not running away from who he actually is.

"I am Shuichi Saihara, The Ultimate Detective!"

Hajime couldn't help but chuckle. He's already chosen his path. Looks like things won't turn out so boring after all.

"Looks like you've chosen your path. I look forward to see the changes you'll make to this world." He says as he flashes a smile. Turning his back to Shuichi as he prepares to leave.

"Wait! One more question. How do you look so young even though you should be older than Makoto?"

Shuichi just needed to know the answer to this question. His detective's intuition was going haywire over it.

"How you ask?" He says as he climbs atop the balcony.

" _*chuckle*_ , seems that'll be another mystery that you will have to solve, Mr. Detective. I’m sure that you can figure it out, it’s you after all.”  
  
“....You and your friends certainly weren't boring people after all. Till we again, Ultimate Detective, Shuichi Saihara." He says his last words to him as he disappears from Shuichi's sight in a flash. No where to be seen.

Suddenly, Maki and Himiko burst into Shuichi's room. Their breaths relieved to see Shuichi was awake and alright.

"Hey you two." He as he flashes a smile to them.

The two of them, slowly make their way to Shuichi. Putting their arms around him, hugging him softly as tears run down their faces.

"Don't do anything stupid like that again." Maki says as the words escape from her mouth, hard to articulate them as her feelings overwhelmed her.

"You said that you'll be just fine. But, look at you. You liar. Please, don't do that ever again." Himiko says, her feelings also overwhelming her.

"I'm sorry to make you worry." He sincerely apologises to them.

Hajime's words suddenly flashes across his mind. They should know his path too.

"Hey, we need to talk about something important..."

The two of them were then slightly confused by Shuichi's abrupt words. He tells them to sit down, and the talk they had that night, changed everything. About themselves, their future, and even the world. Because a few years later, well... I guess you'll just have to see.

_To be concluded in the final chapter..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew! This was certainly a long one, huh? I wonder if you guys can solve the riddle in this chapter? What were your thoughts in this chapter? And what will happen in the last chapter of this Afterstory? The next will be the end to this story! Please look forward to it!


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